Cornelis Van Zuilen Captures 548 Galaxies in 60-Hour Leo Triplet Image
Updated
Updated · Space.com · Jun 3
Cornelis Van Zuilen Captures 548 Galaxies in 60-Hour Leo Triplet Image
1 articles · Updated · Space.com · Jun 3
Summary
Sixty hours and 3 minutes of usable data let Cornelis Van Zuilen produce a deep composite of the Leo Triplet that clearly shows NGC 3628’s long-sought tidal tail.
Eighteen clear nights of shooting from April 6 yielded 85 hours of observations from his balcony in Heiloo, the Netherlands, with only the best 60 hours meeting his quality threshold.
The final image resolves spiral detail in M65 and M66, the edge-on profile of NGC 3628, and a tidal tail stretching about 300,000 light-years from the galaxy.
A PixInsight identification script tagged 548 catalogued galaxies in the frame, underscoring the depth Van Zuilen achieved from a residential observing site.
The project grew out of his 2025 Leo Triplet image and a broader plan, begun after buying an Askar 103APO in late 2024, to photograph the entire Messier Catalogue.