Messier 106
Sign in to saveSpiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici
AI overview
Messier 106 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici that can be observed from Earth. Astronomers study it as one of many galaxies catalogued by Charles Messier in the 18th century, helping us understand the diversity of galaxies in our universe.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
Messier 106 (also known as NGC 4258) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. M106 is at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light-years away from Earth. M106 contains an active nucleus classified as a Type 2 Seyfert, and the presence of a central supermassive black hole has been demonstrated from radio-wavelength observations of the rotation of a disk of molecular gas orbiting within the inner light-year around the black hole. NGC 4217 is a possible companion galaxy of Messier 106. Besides the two visible arms, it has two "anomalous arms" detectable using an X-ray telescope.
Characteristics