Messier 96“Holding the Baby Galaxy”

M 96 is an intermediate spiral galaxy situated approximately 31 million light years away in Leo.

 The galaxy core is oddly displaced from the center. The spiral arms are not very well defined, and the dust lanes are offset. There is a ring like structure of stars around the central part of the galaxy. These unusual features point to some form of interaction with other galaxies in the distant past.

 There is a small edge on spiral galaxy that appears embedded in M96, this is an optical illusion and astronomers estimate this galaxy may be as much as 180 million light years away.

All in all, an interesting galaxy to observe.

 Imaged in LRGB on our PlaneWave CDK 1000 and CDK 700 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

 Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

 Enjoy,

 Mark & Mike