Sky & Telescope - March 2025 - 55

Suburban Stargazer by Ken Hewitt-White
The Legs
of the Lion
Southeastern Leo contains
treasures both charming
and challenging.
L
eo's large, distinctive outline is
recognizable even to suburban stargazers.
The Lion's head and mane are
symbolized by the Sickle, an impressive
six-point asterism punctuated at its base
by 1.4-magnitude Regulus. Some 20°
east of the Sickle, the Lion's - ahem!
- substantial rear end is established by
a broad right-angle triangle formed by
2nd- and 3rd-magnitude stars. He's a
big guy, front 'n back.
Although Leo is often depicted in a
sitting position, some old charts picture
his hind legs extended downward. The
dim stars suggesting those lanky limbs
aren't readily visible to city dwellers;
however, they span an area of sky that
contains several decent double stars
plus two major galaxies. Last spring, I
set up my scopes for a look-see.
Delightful But Difficult
The galaxies in question, M65 and M66,
are usually referenced together because
their hubs are just 20′ apart - they're
a two-for-one deep-sky deal. Better yet,
the side-by-side spirals are relatively
prominent. M65 glows at magnitude
9.3; M66 is magnitude 8.9. Size-wise,
the former is 9.8′ by 2.9′ in extent, while
the latter measures 9.1′ by 4.1′. Canted
attractively on similar angles, the sibling
galaxies are a telescopic treat.
Or maybe not.
The party-pooper is light pollution.
Not many galaxies are muscular enough
to punch through the metro murk that
frustrates most 21st-century observers.
I chase faint fuzzies only during
the clearest weather conditions - my
suburban sky is awful enough withpLEO
GALAXY TRIO Standing just 20′ apart, M65 and M66 (lower right and left, respectively)
are telescopic prizes for amateur astronomers. M65 is 40 light-years from Earth, while slightly
brighter M66 is a bit closer. At the top of the image is NGC 3628. It lies some 32 million lightyears
away and is a fine example of an edge-on galaxy. Its proximity to M65 and M66 results in
three galaxies potentially being visible in a single low-power field of view. Although NGC 3628
eludes most backyard observers who must contend with city lights, the entire Leo Trio is an easy
catch for telescopes under dark country skies.
out any haze or moonlight in the way.
The observations of southeastern Leo
described below were conducted in my
backyard on a night of almost tolerable
clarity, using two basic reflecting telescopes.
I can declare with considerable
pride (and a smidgen of stubbornness)
that I didn't Go To; I star-hopped.
My staging point was 3.3-magnitude
Theta (θ) Leonis, the vertex of
the triangle outlining Leo's hind end.
From Theta (also known as Chertan),
I aimed my 10-inch f/6 Dobsonian a
bit more than 2° southward and a tad
eastward to 5th-magnitude 73 Leonis,
which the scope's 8×50 finder picked
up easily. After centering 73 Leonis in
a low-power eyepiece, I shifted the Dob
¾° eastward to a solitary, 7th-magnitude
star, HD 98388. A gentle nudge
18′ south of that marker netted M65.
Slightly brighter M66 materialized 20′
east-southeast of M65. The two galaxies
were framed in a single field of view.
sk yand tele scope .o r g * MARCH 2025 55
BERNHARD HUBL

http://skyandtelescope.org

Sky & Telescope - March 2025

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