Messier 108
Sign in to savespiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major
Key facts
- Constellation
- Ursa Major
- Right ascension
- 11 11 31.0
- Declination
- +55 ° 40 ′ 27 ″
- Redshift
- 696.1 ± 0.6 km/ s
- Distance
- 14.1 Mpc (46 Mly)
- Type
- SB(s)cd
- Apparent size v
- 8′.7 × 2′.2
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
Messier 108 (also known as NGC 3556, nicknamed the Surfboard Galaxy) is a barred spiral galaxy about 46 million light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 or 1782. From the Earth, this galaxy is seen almost edge-on.
This galaxy is an isolated member of the Ursa Major Cloud of galaxies in the local supercluster. It has a morphological classification of type SBbc in the de Vaucouleurs system, which means it is a barred spiral galaxy with somewhat loosely wound arms. The maximum angular size of the galaxy in the optical band is 11′.1 × 4′.6, and it is inclined 75° to the line of sight.