M58 NGC 4579 Galaxy, AlBroxton

M58 NGC 4579 Galaxy

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Description

Messier 58 (also known as M58 and NGC 4579) is a barred spiral galaxy located within the constellation Virgo, approximately 68 million light-years away from Earth. It was discovered by Charles Messier on April 15, 1779 and is one of four barred spiral galaxies that appear in Messier's catalogue. M58 is one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. Charles Messier discovered Messier 58, along with the elliptical galaxies Messier 59 and Messier 60, on April 15, 1779. M58 was reported on the chart of the Comet of 1779 as it was almost on the same parallel as the star Epsilon Virginis. 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. 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.

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M58 NGC 4579 Galaxy, AlBroxton

In these collections

Allen Broxton
Galaxies