Sombrero Galaxy. Messier 90. Messier 89. Features[edit] Current observations indicate that M89 may be nearly perfectly spherical in shape.
This is unusual, since all other known elliptic galaxies are relatively elongated ellipsoids. [citation needed] However, it is possible that the galaxy is oriented in such a way that it appears spherical to an observer on Earth but is in fact elliptical. The galaxy also features a surrounding structure of gas and dust extending up to 150,000 light-years from the galaxy and jets of heated particles that extend 100,000 light-years outwards. This indicates that it may have once been an active quasar or radio galaxy.[4] It also has an extensive and complex system of shells and plumes surrounding it originated in one or several mergers.[5] Messier 87. The stars in this galaxy form about one sixth of Messier 87's mass.
They have a nearly spherically symmetric distribution, while the density of stars decreases with increasing distance from the core. The galactic envelope extends out to a radius of about 150 kpc (490 kly), where it has been truncated—possibly by an encounter with another galaxy. Between the stars is a diffuse interstellar medium of gas that has been chemically enriched by elements emitted from evolved stars. Any dust formed within the galaxy is destroyed within 46 million years by the X-ray emission from the core, although optical filaments of dust have been observed.
Orbiting the galaxy is an abnormally large population of about 12,000 globular clusters, compared to 150-200 globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way. Observation history[edit] In 1781, French astronomer Charles Messier published a catalogue of 103 objects that had a nebulous appearance. Hubble follows spiral flow of black-hole-powered jet.[19] Messier 86. Messier 86 is linked by several filaments of ionized gas to the severely disrupted spiral galaxy NGC 4438 and shows some gas and interstellar dust that may have been stripped, as well as the gas on those filaments, of it.[4] It's also suffering ram-pressure stripping as it moves at high speed through Virgo's intracluster medium, losing its interstellar medium as it moves through it leaving behind a very long trail of hot gas.[5] Messier 86 has a rich system of globular clusters, with a total number of around 3,800.[6] Its halo also has a number of stellar streams interpreted as remmants of dwarf galaxies that have been disrupted and absorbed by this galaxy[7] In popular culture[edit] In the TV show Andromeda, M86 is cited as being the origin of the Magog invasion of the three galaxies in the season 2 opener "The Widening Gyre" References[edit] ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database".
Messier 84. Radio observations and Hubble Space Telescope images of M84 have revealed two jets of matter shooting out from the galaxy's center as well as a disk of rapidly rotating gas and stars indicating the presence of a 1.5 ×109 M☉[4] supermassive black hole. It also has a few young stars and star clusters, indicating star formation at a very low rate.[5] History[edit] Charles Messier discovered Messier 84 on 18 March 1781 in a systematic search for "nebulous objects" in the night sky.[6] The object is the 84th in the Messier Catalogue. Supernovae[edit] Two supernovae have been observed in M84: SN 1957[7] and SN 1991bg.[8] Possibly, a third, SN 1980I is part of M84 or, alternatively, one of its neighboring galaxies, NGC 4387 and M86.[9] References[edit] ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database".
Messier 61. Messier 61 (also known as M61 or NGC 4303) is a barred spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster.
It was discovered by Barnabus Oriani on May 5, 1779. Properties[edit] M61 is one of the largest members of Virgo, belonging to the subunit known as S Cloud[3][4] It has an Active galactic nucleus[5] and it's classified as a starburst galaxy, with a candidate supermassive black hole with a mass around 5 million times that of our Sun on its center.[6] This object is associated with a young, massive star cluster with a mass 100,000 times the one of the Sun, a radius of 3.1 parsecs and an age of 4 million years.[7] Surrounding it, there's a nuclear spiral with a radius of 225 parsecs formed by several massive star-forming regions,[8] that may be associated with a second bar much smaller than the main one of this galaxy.[9] Star formation is also high across M61's disk,[10] perhaps due to interactions with her satellite galaxies NGC 4292 and NGC 4303B.[11]
Messier 60. History[edit] Messier 60 and the nearby galaxy Messier 59 were both discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler in April 1779 during observations of a comet in the same part of the sky.[5] Charles Messier listed both in the Messier Catalogue about three days after Koehler's discovery.[5] Neighbourhood[edit] Overlapping galaxy NGC 4647[edit] NGC 4647 appears approximately 2′.5 away from Messier 60; the optical disks of the two galaxies overlap.
Although this overlap suggests that the galaxies are interacting, photographic images of the two galaxies do not reveal any evidence for gravitational interactions between the two galaxies as would be suggested if the two galaxies were physically close to each other.[6] This suggests that the galaxies are at different distances and are only weakly interacting if at all.[6] However, recent studies by the Hubble Space Telescope show indications that tidal interactions may have just began.[4] The pair together is collectively known as Arp 116 (APG 116).[4] Messier 59. Messier 58. Early observations[edit] Charles Messier discovered Messier 58, along with the elliptical galaxies Messier 59 and Messier 60, on April 15, 1779.[10] M58 was reported on the chart of the Comet of 1779 as it was almost on the same parallel as the star Epsilon Virginis.[7][14] Messier described M58 as a very faint nebula in Virgo which would disappear in the slightest amount of light he used to illuminate the micrometer wires.[7][15] This description was later contradicted by John Herschel’s observations in 1833 where he described it as a very bright galaxy, especially towards the middle.
Herschel’s observations were also similar to the descriptions of both John Dreyer and William Henry Smyth who said that M58 was a bright galaxy, mottled, irregularly round and very much brighter toward the middle.[7] Spiral Galaxy M58 taken at the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter (Tucson, AZ) using the 0.8m Schulman Telescope. Image courtesy Adam Block. Messier 49. As an elliptical galaxy, Messier 49 has the physical form of a radio galaxy, but it only has the radio emission of a normal galaxy.
From the detected radio emission, the core region is emitting roughly 1053 erg (1046 J or 1022 YJ) of energy.[3] The nucleus of this galaxy is emitting X-rays, suggests the likely presence of a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of 5.65 × 108 solar masses, or 565 million times the mass of the Sun.[4] X-ray emissions shows a structure to the north of Messier 49 that resembles a bow shock. To the southwest of the core, the luminous outline of the galaxy can be traced out to a distance of 260 kpc.[5] The only supernova event observed within this galaxy is SN 1969Q,[6] discovered in June 1969.[7] This galaxy has a large collection of globular clusters, estimated at about 5,900. However, this count is far exceeded by the 13,450 globular clusters orbiting the supergiant elliptical galaxy Messier 87.