This
Messier Object is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Leo at a declination of +12 degrees. It is located 34 million light years away and is slightly brighter and larger than M95 (see
this image for a view of both of them).
This galaxy has a magnitude of 10.1 and a diameter of 80,000 light years. It appears to us midway between edge-on and face-on. The oval inner section of the disk is bright and is rotated about 30 degrees clockwise relative to the orientation of the outer disk. This diffuse outer disk is punctuated by a strong single arm which extends up and left from the core. A dust lane follows this arm up form the core.
3 galaxies lie in the background, all behind the galaxy disk. Amazingly, the data shows that all 3 of these background galaxies are about 0.75 billion light years away, which I find a bit suspicious. In order of their distance from the core, starting with the closest:
- At 11 o’clock, just beyond the bright inner disk, is the galaxy SDSS J104640.41+114958.4. This galaxy is 40,000 light years in diameter.
- At 7 o’clock is the edge-on spiral galaxy 2MFGC 8391, just behind the bottom edge of the galaxy disk. This galaxy is about 170,000 light years in diameter.
- At 2 o’clock, just beyond the outer disk is the galaxy LEDA 83335. It is about 80,000 light years in diameter.
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