APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
M61: Virgo Spiral Galaxy
Explanation: M61 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies . Visible in M61 are a host of features common to spiral galaxies : bright spiral arms , a central bar , dust lanes , and bright knots of stars. M61 , also known as NGC 4303 , in similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy . M61 was discovered by telescope in 1779 twice on the same day, but one observer initially mistook the galaxy for a comet. Light from M61 takes about 60 million years to reach us. Recent observations of M61 have detected unpredicted high velocity gas moving in its halo.
| Date | September 22, 1998 |
|---|---|
| Credit |
Credit: Z. Frei (Eotvos) & J. Gunn (Princeton), Palomar Obs. Copyright: Princeton University Press |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |