M 96 – Spiral galaxy

Description:

The spiral galaxy Messier 96 is located in the constellation Leo about 41 million light years from us. It is almost the same size as our Milky Way. M96 is a very asymmetric galaxy with regions of dust and gas distributed very unevenly in its arms. In addition, its core is not located exactly in the center of the galaxy. Its arms are also asymmetrical. They are believed to have undergone the gravitational influence of another galaxy.

Recent observations estimate that M96 would have collided with the galaxy NGC 3384 more than a billion years ago and would thus have produced an immense ring of gas (650,000 light years in diameter) surrounding this galaxy NGC 3384 and its neighbor M 105.