Object Type | Galaxy SBb |
Constellation | Leo |
Magnitude | 9.8 |
Size | 7.5' x 5.0' |
The Virgo supercluster covers a considerable portion of the sky, with outlying members of the cluster spilling over into a number of neighbouring constellations, one of them being Leo. In this photograph of central Leo, there are 5 bright galaxies as well as a number of fainter ones, all belonging to the Virgo supercluster.
The two brightest galaxies are M95 (near the right hand edge), and M96 (near the centre). Both of these galaxies are easy objects for a small telescope. M95 is a beautiful barred spiral, that appears as an elongated patch of light in an 8" telescope, while M96 is a regular spiral that appears almost corcular in an 8".
To the upper left of M96, near the top of the image, is a triangle of three galaxies. These are M105, (the brightest one, on the right) NGC 3384, (top left of the triangle) and NGC 3389 (the faintest, on the bottom left). All of these are easily seen in a 6" telescope and even with moderate magnification, fit into the same field of view.