Caption: This is the third and most interesting member of the Leo triplet and was too faint for Messier to catalogue. This picture has been specially enhanced to reveal NGC 3628 as an edge-on spiral galaxy, crossed by a dust lane. Edge-on galaxies are naturally unusual, but this example has other peculiarities. The dust lane is distinctly askew and the ends of the spiral arms are obviously puffed out, one of them showing plenty of evidence of star formation as pink nebulae. The bright bulge of the galaxy also has an unusual "peanut" shape. This reveals that the galaxies of the Leo group are gradually pulling each other apart as they orbit each other.
Copyright: (c) 1991 Anglo-Australian Telescope Board, photograph by David Malin
