Messier 61
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AI overview
Messier 61 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo, meaning it has a distinctive bar-shaped structure at its center with spiral arms extending outward. It's a notable example of this common galaxy type and serves as an important object for astronomers studying galactic structure and evolution.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Right ascension
- 12 21 54.9205
- Declination
- +04 ° 28 ′ 25.631 ″
- Redshift
- 0.005 224 ± 0.000 007
- Heliocentric radial velocity
- 1566 ± 2 km/s
- Galactocentric velocity
- 1483 ± 4 km/s
- Distance
- 52.5 ± 2.3 Mly (16.10 ± 0.71 Mpc )
- Type
- SAB(rs)bc, H II Sy2
- Size
- ~92,300 ly (28.30 kpc ) (estimated)
- Apparent size v
- 6.5′ × 5.8′
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
Messier 61 (also known as M61, NGC 4303, or the Swelling Spiral Galaxy) is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It was first discovered by Barnaba Oriani on May 5, 1779, six days before Charles Messier discovered the same galaxy. Messier had observed it on the same night as Oriani but had mistaken it for a comet. Its distance has been estimated to be 45.61 million light years from the Milky Way Galaxy. It is a member of the M61 Group of galaxies, which is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster.
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