Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Coma Berenices (Com)  ·  Contains:  Black-eye galaxy  ·  M 64  ·  NGC 4826
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M64, Black Eye Galaxy, Rick Veregin
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M64, Black Eye Galaxy

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M64, Black Eye Galaxy, Rick Veregin
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M64, Black Eye Galaxy

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Description

Messier 64 is known variously as the Black Eye Galaxy, or Sleeping Beauty Galaxy, or even the Evil Eye Galaxy, named for the conspicuous band of dust that adsorbs light coming from the galaxy's bright nucleus. But the most peculiar aspect is that the outer region of gas rotates in an opposite direction to the gas in the core, and indeed to all the stars in the galaxy. One theory for this oddity is that M64 merged with a satellite galaxy over a billion years ago. Whatever the cause, the result is an intense star forming region at the interface due to the compressive heating from these colliding counter-rotating clouds. M64 spans about 40,000 light years, and is about 19 million light years away, a part of the M94 Group (the Canes Venatici I Cloud).

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M64, Black Eye Galaxy, Rick Veregin