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Messier 84
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elliptical or lenticular galaxy in the constellation Virgo
Messier 84 is a galaxy located in the constellation Virgo that has an elliptical or lens-like shape. Astronomers study it as one of many galaxies in our universe to better understand how galaxies form and evolve over time.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 16.8
- Image
- Phot-04a-03-hires.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- catalog code
- [DC78] UGC 7494
- right ascension
- 186.265597208
- apparent magnitude
- 9.081
- declination
- 12.886983139
- Commons category
- Messier 84
- Commons gallery
- Messier 84
- time of discovery or invention
- 1781-03-18
- redshift
- 0.003336
- galaxy morphological type
- E-E/S0
- radial velocity
- 979
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Article
Messier 84 or M84, also known as NGC 4374, is a giant elliptical or lenticular galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Charles Messier discovered the object in 1781 in a systematic search for "nebulous objects" in the night sky. It is the 84th object in the Messier Catalogue and in the heavily populated core of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, part of the local supercluster.
This galaxy has morphological classification E1, denoting it has flattening of about 10%. The extinction-corrected total luminosity in the visual band is about 7.64×10 L☉. The central mass-to-light ratio is 6.5, which, to a limit, steadily increases away from the core. The visible galaxy is surrounded by a massive dark matter halo.