Messier 96 (M96) on the left and Messier 95 (M95) on the right.
The two galaxies shown here are Messier 95 (M95) and Messier 96 (M96), both discovered in 1781 by geodesist Pierre Méchain. They are in the constellation Leo.
They appear separated by approximately one degree of arc, and are in fact at roughly the same location in space, part of what is known as the “M96 group”. That galaxy group is approximately 33 million light-years from us.
According to Wikipedia M95 is roughly 3 arcminutes in diameter (as seen from Earth), while M96 is closer to 6 arcminutes. I think they are similar in apparent size at around 6 arcminutes. M96 is brighter and larger, roughly the same size as the Milky Way. M95 is a bit smaller.
At first glance the two galaxies appear very similar, but they are of different “types”.
M95 is a barred spiral, reasonably symmetric. The bar is very nicely defined (see the close-up image below) and at the ends of the bar it looks like there is a ring.
Messier 95, M95 crop
M96 is categorized as a “double barred spiral” with a small inner bulge and an outer bulge. Although not obvious in this image the galaxy is highly asymmetric, possibly due to interactions with other galaxies.
Messier 105 is another member of this galaxy group, but it is not shown in this image.
Messier 96, M96 crop
The image of M95 and M96 was captured at Lac Teeples on April 30, 2022. It is composed of a bit less than one hour of data (one minute subframes stacked). Equipment used was the RASA11 and the 6200 camera.
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