Spiral galaxy M66, infrared image. Blue areas are mature stars, while red areas are regions of active star formation. It is thought the distorted shap

---

Spiral galaxy M66, infrared image. Blue areas are mature stars, while red areas are regions of active star formation. It is thought the distorted shape of this galaxy is due to gravitational interactions with two neighbouring galaxies M65 and NGC3627. M66 is located 30 million light years from Earth, near the constellation Leo. Image taken by the Infrared Array Camera on the Spitzer Space Telescope.

---

Size: 2519px × 2519px
Photo credit: © JPL-CALTECH/R. KENNICUTT (UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA)/SINGS TEAM/NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 66, 3627, arms, array, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, barred, birth, camera, formation, galactic, galaxy, infrared, m66, messier, ngc, nursery, space, spiral, spitzer, star, stellar, telescope