The spiral galaxy M64 lies about 20 million light years (that’s 20 million x 6 trillion miles!) from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices, and owing to the enormous dark dust band around its nucleus, it is often called the Black Eye Galaxy. It is also sometimes referred to as the Evil Eye or Sleeping Beauty Galaxy. What is truly unique here are two counter-rotating disks (discovery made in the 1990s), with the inner disk (containing the dust clouds and the stars the dust obscures) rotating in the opposite direction than the outer region of interstellar gas. The “friction” between these zones is the probable cause of heavy starburst activity in the collision/ interaction zone. This peculiar system is thought to be the result of a merger of 2 galaxies about a billion years ago (give or take a week!). The visual appearance of M64 is really quite stunning. The M or Messier numbering system for deep sky objects was put together by Charles Messier, a French astronomer and noted comet hunter, in the 1770s and added onto over time. Messier was confused by several deep sky objects (galaxies, nebulae, clusters, etc) that turned out not to be comets. He then put together a catalog of these deep sky objects to assist other comet hunters, heeding them, as it were, not to waste time looking at these “non-comets”. This “list” which now consists of 110 objects is considered to be 110 of the most beautiful objects to view or find in the cosmos, not exactly Messier’s original intention. Thanks anyway, Charles; we are indebted.
M64 - BLACK-EYE GALAXY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Viewing the grand swirling arms of M 51 (made of gas and dust), it is easy to understand how it came to be called the “Whirlpool Galaxy” – the first to be classified as a spiral galaxy. Viewed readily through a moderate-size telescope and seen in the photo, the Whirlpool is interacting with the smaller (dwarf) galaxy, NGC 5195 - both about 25 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici (“the hunting dogs”). Together, they make up the most well known interacting galaxy pair; the tidal bridge of dust connecting the two is quite prominent. The interaction is also causing star formation in M51 as seen in the red areas (glowing hydrogen gas). The two galaxies will most likely merge in the future. Stay tuned!
M51 - THE WHIRLPOOL GALAXY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
M 82, an edge-on galaxy located about 12 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major (the site of the well-known-to-all asterism of the Big Dipper); its elongated shape gave rise to the popular name for M82 – the Cigar Galaxy. This cigar also seems to be lit, but from the center, where two prominent, fiery plumes of hydrogen gas are easily seen (especially when using a narrow band hydrogen alpha filter). The bipolar plumes (called a galactic superwind) are due to enhanced star formation caused by M82’s interaction with nearby (135,000 light years) M81 – together they are known as the Bode Nebula. Hence, the Cigar Galaxy is a well-known example of what is called a “Starburst Galaxy.” M82 is 5 times more luminous than the entire Milky Way Galaxy – actually over one hundred times more luminous in the core.
M82 - BODE'S GALAXY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Messier 104 (M104) is aptly named the Sombrero Galaxy due to its bright halo stars & globular clusters) and a prominent, broad dust band. It is an edge-on spiral galaxy located about 30 million light years away in the constellation Virgo. Luminous and massive, the Sombrero is said to have a mass of 800 billion Suns and hosts a subermassive black hole (SMBH) in its core, based on X-ray emission. M104 is a real favorite object for viewing as well as imaging.
M104 - THE SOMBRERO GALAXY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NGC 7331 is a reasonably bright spiral galaxy about 40 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. It is also part of a beautiful optical grouping of galaxies called the Deer Lick Group. It is an optical grouping as the background galaxies are 10 times further away and not gravitationally bound to/ interacting with NGC 7331. For those new to astronomy, NGC stands for New General Catalog; it was a large comprehensive catalog of deep sky objects put together in the 1880s.
NGC 7331
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Messier 58 (M58) is a spiral galaxy located within the constellation Virgo, approximately 70 million light-years away from Earth making it currently the most distant Messier object. M58 is classified as a Seyfert Galaxy, referring to its Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN); the intense radiation of an AGN is indicative of a Supermassive Black Hole (SMBH) in the Galaxy’s core; in this case, the SMBH is said to have a mass in excess of 70 million solar masses. M58 is one of the brightest members of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster.
M58 - A BARRED SPIRAL GALAXY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keenan's System (NGC 5216 and NGC 5218) is a fascinating pair of interacting galaxies, 17 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The two are connected by a thin stream of gas (visible in the photo, formed by gravitational interaction as the galaxies passed each other; massive new stars are forming in this perturbed area, giving the bridge a blue tint. Keenan’s System is also known as Arp 104 in Halton Arp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.
NGC 5216/ 5218 KEENAN'S SYSTEM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NGC 4565 (also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile) is the largest of the edge-on spiral galaxies about 40 million light years away in the constellation Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair). It is more luminous than the famous Adromeda Galaxy and quite spectacular to view as well as image, with a conspicuous dust lane across the nucleus. Somehow, some way, NGC 4565 was missed by Messier; either he just didn’t see it or he felt you couldn’t misidentify it as a comet. It’s one of my favorites.
NGC 4565 - AN EDGE-ON SPIRAL GALAXY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Messier 63 (M63, also known as the Sunflower Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs). About half the scientific sources report the distance from Earth at 27 million light years and the other half state 37 million light years; one could take the average and call it 32 million light years or just say 27-37 million light years. Interesting how information gets copied and repeated. The shape is truly “sunflowerish”; the central disc is surrounded by many short spiral arm segments. Unlike “Grand Design” spiral galaxies that have long, well-defined spiral arms, M63’s arms are short and discontinuous, making it what is termed a “Flocculent” spiral.
M63 - SUNFLOWER GALAXY
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------