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

M88

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M88, Gary Imm
M88, Gary Imm

M88

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Description

This Messier Object, also known as NGC 4501, is a Seyfert spiral galaxy located 60 million light years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices at a declination of +14 degrees.  It is a magnitude 9.6 galaxy which is the 72nd brightest galaxy in the sky.  It spans 6 arc-minutes in our apparent view.  This corresponds to a diameter of 110,000 light years.  We are looking at this galaxy at about 30 degrees from edge-on.  

The distance estimates for this galaxy vary tremendously, from 40 to 100 million light years, for such a common object.

The arm structure of this galaxy is very regular and can be followed down to the bright galactic core. Blue star clusters are evident in the arms and dark dust lanes are seen wrapping around the core.

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