Messier 61

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Messier 61[1]
300px
Messier 61 taken by Hubble[2]
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA. Acknowledgement: Det58
Observation data
Epoch J2000
Constellation Virgo
Right ascension 12h 21m 54.9s[3]
Declination +04° 28′ 25″[3]
Apparent dimension (V) 6.5 × 5.8 moa[3]
Apparent magnitude (V) 10.18
Characteristics
Type SAB(rs)bc,[3] HIISy2[3]
Astrometry
Heliocentric radial velocity 1566 ± 2[3]km/s
Redshift 0.005224 ± 0.000007[3]
Galactocentric velocity 1483 ± 4[3] km/s
Distance 52.5 ± 2.3 Mly (16.10 ± 0.71 Mpc)
Other designations
NGC 4303,[3] UGC 07420,[3] PGC 040001,[3] MCG +01-32-022,[3] USGC U490 NED310,[3] MRC 1219+047,[3] GC 2878
Database references
SIMBAD Search M61 data
See also: Galaxy, List of galaxies

Messier 61 (also known as M61 or NGC 4303) is a barred spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. It was discovered by Barnabus Oriani on May 5, 1779.

Properties

M61 is one of the largest members of Virgo, belonging to the subunit known as S Cloud[4][5]

It has an Active galactic nucleus[6] and it is classified as a starburst galaxy, with a candidate supermassive black hole with a mass around 5 million times that of our Sun on its center.[7] This object is associated with a young, massive star cluster with a mass 100,000 times the one of the Sun, a radius of 3.1 parsecs and an age of 4 million years.[8] Surrounding it, there's a nuclear spiral with a radius of 225 parsecs formed by several massive star-forming regions,[9] that may be associated with a second bar much smaller than the main one of this galaxy.[10]

Star formation is also high across M61's disk,[11] perhaps due to interactions with her satellite galaxies NGC 4292 and NGC 4303B.[12]

Unlike most late-type galaxies of the Virgo Cluster, M61 does not show a deficiency of neutral hydrogen[13]

Seven supernovae have been observed in this galaxy making it one of the most active Supernova galaxies known:[14][15][16]

  • SN 2014dt
  • SN 2008in
  • SN 2006ov
  • SN 1999gn
  • SN 1964F
  • SN 1961I
  • SN 1926A

Gallery

  • Messier 61 looks straight into the camera.jpg

    Messier 61 image using data from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 2

  • SN2008inHunter Wilson.jpg

    Amateur Image of Messier 61 Showing Supernova 2008in on April 16, 2009

  • M61 3.6 5.8 8.0 microns spitzer.png

    Infrared image of M61 taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope

References

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External links

Coordinates: Sky map 12h 21m 54.9s, +04° 28′ 25″

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  14. ↑ Supernovae which have been observed in Messier catalog galaxies
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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