Galaxy Messier 88

Messier 88
Messier 88: Galaxy in Coma Berenices; 500 mm Cassegrain 3625 mm f/7.2; SBIG STL11K; 90+30+30+30 min LRGB; Bernese Highlands; © 2011 Radek Chromik

History

The galaxy M 88 was discovered by Charles Messier on 18 March 1787. He wrote: «Nebula without a star, in Virgo, between two small stars and a star of the sixth magnitude, which appear simultaneously in the field of view of the telescope. The brightness is one of the weaker and is like no. 58 in Virgo.» [281]

Physical Properties

Messier 88
Messier 88: Image taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. © ESA/Hubble & NASA [215]

M 88 is a spiral galaxy with well-defined and symmetrical spiral arms. It is about 47 million light years away and one of the fifteen Messier galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. It is a Seyfert galaxy and has an active core, which means that the central area of the galaxy is brighter than the rest of the galaxy. In the center there is a supermassive black hole with about 100 million solar masses. M 88 contains about 400 billion stars and is moving away from our galaxy. [215]

Revised+Historic NGC/IC, Version 22/9, © Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
DesignationNGC 4501
TypeGx (Sb)
Right Ascension12h 31m 59.0s
Declination+14° 25' 11"
Diameter6.8 × 3.7 arcmin
Photographic (blue) magnitude10.4 mag
Visual magnitude9.6 mag
Surface brightness13.0 mag·arcmin-2
Position Angle140°
Redshift0.007609
Distance derived from z32.14 Mpc
Metric Distance19.130 Mpc
Dreyer DescriptionB, vL, vmE
Identification, RemarksM 88, UGC 7675, MCG 3-32-59, CGCG 99-76, VCC 1401

Other Galaxies in that Area

«Catalogue of Principal Galaxies (PGC)», Paturel et al. 1989 [144]
NameRA [hms]Dec [dms]mTypeDim [']Btot [mag]HRV [km/s]PA [°]
PGC 41320, IC 343212 30 27.4+14 09 32S.6 x .415.06019
PGC 41435, IC 344212 31 20.2+14 06 54E.9 x .814.66210
PGC 41468, IC 345412 31 38.6+27 29 46S1.2 x .215.7700926
PGC 4151512 31 59.0+14 18 27E.8 x .416.2
PGC 41608, IC 347612 32 42.2+14 03 03IB2.2 x 1.913.1-17130
PGC 41614, IC 347812 32 44.4+14 11 47LB1.1 x 1.014.41876
PGC 41661, NGC 451612 33 07.7+14 34 32SB1.8 x .913.39580

Finder Chart

M 88 is located in the constellation Coma Berenices. The best observation time is January to July.

Chart Galaxy Messier 88
Galaxy Messier 88 in constellation Coma Berenices. Chart created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. [149, 160]

Visual Observation

Pending ...

More Objects Nearby (±15°)

Diamond
3C 273
Copelands Septet
Hickson 57
Messier 49
Messier 53
Messier 58
Messier 59
Messier 60
Messier 61
Blackeye Galaxy
Messier 64
Markarian's Chain
Messier 84
Messier 85
Markarian's Chain
Messier 86
Messier 89
Messier 90
Messier 91
Messier 98
Messier 99
Messier 100
NGC 4147
NGC 4189
NGC 4193
NGC 4206
Silver Streak Galaxy
NGC 4216
NGC 4222
NGC 4292
NGC 4298/4302
NGC 4301
The Eyes
NGC 4435/8
NGC 4517
Needle Galaxy
NGC 4565
Siamese Twins
NGC 4567/8
NGC 4571
NGC 4606/7
NGC 4637/8
NGC 4712
NGC 4725
NGC 4733
NGC 4747
NGC 4754/62
NGC 4762
NGC 5053

References

144Catalogue of Principal Galaxies (PGC); Paturel G., Fouque P., Bottinelli L., Gouguenheim L.; Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 80, 299 (1989); cdsarc.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/VII/119 (2021-02-18)
149SkySafari 6 Pro, Simulation Curriculum; skysafariastronomy.com
160The STScI Digitized Sky Survey; archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form
215Explore - The Night Sky | Hubble’s Messier Catalog; nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-s-messier-catalog (2020-12-31)
277«Historische Deep-Sky Kataloge» von Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke; klima-luft.de/steinicke (2021-02-17)
281«Catalogue Nébuleuses et des Amas D'Étoiles» Observées à Paris, par M. Messier, à l'Observatoire de la Marine, hôtel de Clugni, rue des Mathurins. «Connoissance des temps ou connoissance des mouvements célestes, pour l'année bissextile 1784 » Page 227; gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6514280n/f235 (2021-02-21)