Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Coma Berenices (Com)  ·  Contains:  M 88  ·  NGC 4501
M88   Galaxy, AlBroxton
M88   Galaxy
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M88 Galaxy

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Description

Messier 88 (also known as M88 or NGC 4501) is a spiral galaxy about 47 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. The M88 galaxy is one of the fifteen Messier objects that belong the nearby Virgo Cluster of galaxies. this galaxy is inclined approximately 30 degrees to our line of sight. This gives it an elongated visual appearance, which resembles that of the Andromeda Galaxy, M31. M88 is believed to be nearly 130,000 light-years in diameter and is receding away from us at about 2000 km/sec. This is one of the more rewarding galaxies in the Virgo cluster for observers using small instruments. A large telescope will bring out some of the more subtle details.

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M88   Galaxy, AlBroxton

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Allen Broxton
Galaxies