Galaxy Messier 88
History
The galaxy M 88 was discovered by Charles Messier on March 18, 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
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]
| Designations | PGC 41517: NGC 4501, UGC 7675, MCG 3-32-59, M 88, CGCG 99-76, VCC 1401 |
| Right Ascension (J2000.0) | 12h 31m 59.5s |
| Declination (J2000.0) | +14° 25' 17" |
| Morphological Type | S |
| Dimensions | 6.8' x 3.7' |
| Visual Magnitude | 10.2 mag |
| Radial Velocity (HRV) | 2279 km/s |
| Position Angle | 140° |
Other Galaxies in that Area
| Name | RA [hms] | Dec [dms] | mType | Dim ['] | Btot [mag] | HRV [km/s] | PA [°] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IC 3432 | 12 30 27.4 | +14 09 32 | S | .6 x .4 | 15.0 | 6019 | |
| IC 3442 | 12 31 20.2 | +14 06 54 | E | .9 x .8 | 14.6 | 6210 | |
| IC 3454 | 12 31 38.6 | +27 29 46 | S | 1.2 x .2 | 15.7 | 7009 | 26 |
| PGC 41515 | 12 31 59.0 | +14 18 27 | E | .8 x .4 | 16.2 | ||
| IC 3476 | 12 32 42.2 | +14 03 03 | IB | 2.2 x 1.9 | 13.1 | -171 | 30 |
| IC 3478 | 12 32 44.4 | +14 11 47 | LB | 1.1 x 1.0 | 14.4 | 1876 | |
| NGC 4516 | 12 33 07.7 | +14 34 32 | SB | 1.8 x .9 | 13.3 | 958 | 0 |
Finder Chart
M 88 is located in the constellation Coma Berenices. The best observation time is January to July.
