It's always nice to get a new view of an old friend. This stunning Hubble Space Telescope image of nearby spiral galaxy M66 is just that. A spiral galaxy with a small central bar, M66 is a member of the Leo Galaxy Triplet , a group of three galaxies about 30 million light years from us. The Leo Triplet is a popular target for relatively small telescopes , in part because M66 and its galactic companions M65 and NGC 3628 all appear separated by about the angular width of a full moon . The featured image of M66 was taken by Hubble to help investigate the connection between star formation and molecular gas clouds . Clearly visible are bright blue stars , pink ionized hydrogen clouds -- sprinkled all along the outer spiral arms, and dark dust lane s in which more star formation could be hiding .
Media Credits & Attribution
Image Credit: NASA , ESA , Hubble , Janice Lee ; Processing & Copyright: Leo Shatz ; Text: Karen Masters