M 95, M 96

Messier 95, also known as M95 or NGC 3351, is a barred spiral galaxy about 33 million light-years away in the zodiac constellation Leo. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, and catalogued by compatriot Charles Messier four days later. The galaxy is a barred spiral with arms that are intermediate on the scale from tightly to loosely wound, and an inner ring surrounds the bar. Within M95 a star formation rate of 0.4 solar masses per year is observed. M95 is one of several galaxies within the M96 Group, a group of galaxies in the constellation Leo, the other Messier objects of which are M96 and M105.

Messier 96 (also known as M96 or NGC 3368) is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 31 million light-years away in the constellation Leo, also discovered by Pierre Méchain and confirmed by Charles Messier. M96 is categorized as a double-barred spiral galaxy with a small inner bulge through the core along with an outer bulge. Messier 96 - the brightest galaxy within the M96 Group- is about the same mass and size as the Milky Way.

Galaxies M95 (left) & M96 (right), 17 & 18 February 2025, Kempen, William Optics 110 mm APO FLT f/7, ASI1600mm pro, L(UV-IR)-filter, 7680 s, PixInsight V 1.9

Following the 2 h exposure in 2025, I re-visited M 95/M 96 in March 2026 to add more data obtained using the R, G, B and H-alpha filters.

Galaxies M95 (left) & M96 (right), 08 March 2026, Kempen, William Optics 110 mm APO FLT f/7, ASI1600MM pro, L: 7680 s, R, G, B, H_alpha: 1800s each; PixInsight V 1.9.3

M 95

M 96

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2MFGC 8391

Interesting to note is, that already on this rather short-exposed image obtained by a small (110 mm) amateur telescope, fine details in M 96 can be seen, confirmed in the VLT image (bel0w). In particular the H_alpha dominated “stream” near the centre of the Core of M 96 can be seen, as well as the distant edge-on galaxy 2MFGC 8391, located at about two o‘clock.

2MFGC 8391

Galaxy M 96, obtained by the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT). This image and my M 96 image (above) have a similar orientation. The H_alpha dominated “stream” near the core of the galaxy, as well as the distant edge-on galaxy 2MFGC 8391 at about two o‘clock can be clearly seen in both images.