Messier 61
| Galaxy Messier 61 |
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|---|---|
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| The galaxy Messier 61, captured by the Very Large Telescope | |
| AladinLite | |
| Constellation | Virgin |
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Position equinox : J2000.0 , epoch : J2000.0 |
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| Right ascension | 12 h 21 m 54.9 s |
| declination | + 04 ° 28 ′ 25 ″ |
| Appearance | |
| Morphological type | Sb / SBc / Sy2 |
| Brightness (visual) | 9.3 mag |
| Brightness (B-band) | 10.1 mag |
| Angular expansion | 6.5 ′ × 5.9 ′ |
| Position angle | 162 ° |
| Surface brightness | 13.1 mag / arcmin² |
| Physical data | |
| Affiliation | Virgo galaxy cluster , LGG 287 |
| Redshift | +0.005224 ± 0.000007 |
| Radial velocity | +1 566 ± 2 km / s |
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Stroke distance v rad / H 0 |
(66 ± 5) · 10 6 ly (20.3 ± 1.4) Mpc |
| diameter | 100,000 ly |
| history | |
| discovery | Barnaba Oriani |
| Discovery date | May 5, 1779 |
| Catalog names | |
| M 61 • NGC 4303 • UGC 7420 • PGC 40001 • CGCG 042-045 • MCG + 1-32-22 • IRAS 12194 + 0444 • 2MASX J12215494 + 0428249 • VCC 508 • GC 2878 • h 1202 • H I 139 | |
Messier 61 = NGC 4303 is a 9.3 mag bright spiral galaxy with an area of 6.5 × 5.9 arc minutes in the constellation Virgo on the ecliptic . The morphological type of this galaxy is an intermediate form of the bar-spiral galaxy and the normal spiral galaxy (SABbc). It is an estimated 66 million light years away from the Milky Way and has a diameter of about 100,000 ly.
M61 is one of the larger spiral galaxies of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster , a collection of galaxies that are all held together by mutual attraction.
The object was discovered by Barnaba Oriani on May 5, 1779 .
UV exposure with GALEX
Infrared image of the center with the Spitzer Space Telescope
Detailed image with the WFPC2 of the Hubble Space Telescope
High-resolution image of the center using ACS / HRC from the Hubble space telescope
Web links
- astronews.com: Picture of the day June 17, 2013
