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Dwarf Galaxy Near M60

Dwarf Galaxy Near M60
Looking almost like a bright star near the massive elliptical galaxy M60 (also called NGC 4649), the dwarf galaxy M60-UCD1 crams 140 million stars within a diameter of about 300 light-years. The dwarf galaxy may actually be the stripped remnant of a larger galaxy that was torn apart during a close encounter with the more massive galaxy. Circumstantial evidence comes from the recent discovery of a monster black hole (too small to be seen in this Hubble Space Telescope picture) at the center of the dwarf. The black hole is 15 percent the mass of the entire galaxy – way too big for it to have formed inside a dwarf galaxy. But the black hole would be the right proportional mass if the galaxy had once been more massive. The galaxy lies 50 million light-years away inside the immense Virgo Cluster of 2,500 galaxies. M60-UCD1 orbits the giant elliptical galaxy in this image. M60 is 120 million light-years across and contains an estimated 400 billion stars.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    12h 43m 36.0s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    11° 32' 6.99"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Virgo
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    M60 and M60-UCD1 are roughly 54 million light-years (16 megaparsecs) distant.

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    Data for this science result comes from the HST proposal: 12369 G. Fabbiano (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), T. Fragos and V. Kalogera (Northwestern University), D.-W. Kim and A. Zezas (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), J. Gallagher III (University of Wisconsin, Madison) , A. King (University of Leicester), J. Strader (Harvard University), and J. Brodie (University of California, Santa Cruz). The release image of M60 also includes data from proposals 9043, PI: J. Tonry (University of Hawaii) and 9410, PI: P. Cote (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory). The science team comprises: A. Seth (University of Utah), R. van den Bosch (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg), S. Mieske (ESO Chile), H. Baumgardt (University of Queensland), M. den Brok (University of Utah), J. Strader (Michigan State University), N. Neumayer (ESO Garching), I. Chilingarian (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics/Moscow State University), M. Hilker (ESO Garching), R. McDermid and L. Spitler (Australian Astronomical Observatory/Macquarie University, Sydney), J. Brodie (University of California, Santa Cruz), M. Frank (Center of Astronomy/Heidelberg University), and J. Walsh (University of Texas, Austin).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFPC2
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    ACS/WFC: F475W (B) and F850LP (z); WFPC2: F555W (V) and F814W (I)
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Messier 60, M60, and M60-UCD1
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Elliptical Galaxy and Ultracompact Dwarf Galaxy with Black Hole
  • Release Date
    September 17, 2014
  • Science Release
    Hubble Helps Find Smallest Known Galaxy with a Supermassive Black Hole
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration; Acknowledgment: J. Tonry (University of Hawaii), P. Cote (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory), and G. Fabbiano (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

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Dwarf Galaxy Near M60
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

The images are composites of separate exposures made by the ACS/WFC and WFPC2 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Four filters were used to sample broad and narrow wavelength ranges for the UVIS image. The colors result from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: ACS/WFC F475W (B) + WFPC2 F555W (V) Green: F475W (B) + F555W (V) + F850LP (z) + F814W (I) Red: ACS/WFC F850LP (z) + WFPC2 F814W (I)

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

Related Images & Videos

Artist's Concept of Giant Black Hole in Center of Ultracompact Galaxy

Artist's Concept of Giant Black Hole in Center of Ultracompact Galaxy

This is an illustration of a supermassive black hole, weighing as much as 21 million suns, located in the middle of the ultradense galaxy M60-UCD1. The dwarf galaxy is so dense that millions of stars fill the sky as seen by an imaginary visitor. Because no light can escape from...

Elliptical Galaxy M60

Elliptical Galaxy M60

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the massive elliptical galaxy M60. The galaxy lies about 50 million light-years away inside the immense Virgo Cluster of 2,500 galaxies. A portion of the faint bluish spiral galaxy NGC 4647 can be seen in the upper right corner of this...

Dwarf Galaxy M60-UCD1

Dwarf Galaxy M60-UCD1

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the ultracompact dwarf galaxy M60-UCD1. The galaxy crams 140 million stars within a diameter of about 300 light-years. Astronomers believe that a monster black hole resides at the center of the galaxy.

Compass and Scale Image for M60

Compass and Scale Image for M60

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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