Galaxies in Virgo
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Galaxies in Virgo |
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M49 is an elliptical galaxy of type E3/E4. The magnitude is 10.1, making this a fairly easy target for amateur scopes, although the lack of spiral arms may hurt its popularity. Seemingly lacking in form, M49 makes up for this in sheer size; M49 is five times as massive as the Milky Way. M58 is a compact spiral of type Sb, magnitude 10.5, located three degrees southeast of the core of the Virgo Cluster. While this is not the largest of these galaxies, it is among the prettiest, a little delicate spiral, almost face-on to our view.
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M59 is an elliptical of type E3-E4, magnitude 11; another such galaxy M60, is 25 arc minutes east in your telescopic field of view. M60 is an elliptical galaxy of type E1/E2, and is magnitude 10, making this one of the brighter galaxies in the area. Note M59 is nearby, just 25 arc minutes west.
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M61 is a lovely spiral of type Sc, which means it's core is relatively small compared to the several spiral arms that surround it. A bright galaxt at magnitude 10.2, M61 has gotten special attention in recent years as astronomers began to understand that M61 bears a striking resemblance to our own Milky Way. Thus, this face on spiral offers us a view of what we might look like from across the cosmos.
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M84 is one of a pair of giant elliptical galaxies located in the heart of the Virgo Cluster. Like its neighbor M86 just 16 arc minutes away, M84 is a massive star swarm much larger than ours, without a trace of spiral arms. The magnitude is 10.5, making this a near twin of M86.
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M86 is the close neighbor of M84, and almost a clone: elliptical in type, magnitude 10.5, much larger than our galaxy, and a long, long way off - 70 million light years.
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M87 is located 1.25 degrees southeast of M86, near the Virgo Cluster's core, and is another giant elliptical type galaxy - a shade brighter than M86 at magnitude 10.1. M87 is famous for the high energy jet of gases expelled from its nucleus. The jet is visible only in photographs (and just faintly at that), but as this is a good bet for a supermassive black hole, M87 merits both a look and a mental shudder. Two fainter elliptical galaxies, NGCs 4476 and 4478, are in the telescopic field.
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M89 is a round ball of stars, an elliptical of type E0, and glows at a faint magnitude 11. You'll find M89 about 2.5 degrees east of the central Virgo Cluster galaxies like M86.
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M90 is more what people expect from a galaxy, a spiral of type Sb, much like our own, and shines at magnitude 11.1. Tilted maybe 20 degrees from edge-on, M90 appears as an oval glow surrounding a bright nucleus.
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M104 is a spectacular edge-on spiral galaxy which is the far southwestern corner of Virgo, some eleven degrees west of Spica. Perhaps the most arresting feature of M104 is the presence of a very dark dust band across its equator, seeming to be a the edge of a broad brimmed hat. Accordingly, M104 is universally known as the "Sombrero" galaxy. M104 is rated type Sa-Sb, and is magnitude 8.2 (the brightest galaxy in Virgo, and thus a good target for a first-time galaxy hunter).
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