M65, also known as NGC 3623, was cataloged on March 1, 1780 and described by Charles Messier himself as a “very faint nebula without stars”. M65 can be found in Leo, at right ascension 11:18.9 and declination +13:05, and forms the Leo Triplet group alongside M66 and NGC 3628 at a distance of about thirty-five million light years. It looks fairly spiral despite being affected by the gravitational pull of the other two galaxies in the triplet. The arms of the spiral are tightly wound, a central lens is seen quite strongly and a dust lane marks the facing edge from which some knots can be seen. The image below was taken with the Anglo Australian Telescope by David Malin.
Below is a picture of the entire Leo Triplet because I thought it was cool.
Frommert, Hartmut, and Christine Kronberg. "Messier Object 65." SEDS Messier Database. 30 Aug. 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. http://messier.obspm.fr/m/m065.html.
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