Right ascension 12 42 02.3 Redshift 410 ± 6 km/s Apparent size (V) 5′.4 × 3′.7 Constellation Virgo | Declination +11° 38′ 49″ Type E5 Magnitude 10.6 Apparent magnitude (V) 10.6 | |
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Distance 60 ± 5 Mly (18.3 ± 1.7 Mpc) Similar Messier 49, Messier 61, Messier 58, Messier 47, Messier 46 | ||
Messier 59, also known as M59 or NGC 4621, is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It is a member of the Virgo Cluster.
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History
Messier 59 and the nearby elliptical galaxy Messier 60 were both discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler in April 1779 during observations of a comet in the same part of the sky. Charles Messier listed both in the Messier Catalogue about three days after Koehler's discovery.
One supernova (1939B) has been recorded in M59; it reached a peak magnitude of 11.9.
Characteristics
Messier 59's core contains a supermassive black hole, with a mass that has been estimated to be 270 million times the mass of the Sun, and counter-rotates with respect of the rest of the galaxy, being bluer. This galaxy also has an inner disk of stars and is very rich in globular clusters, with a population of them that has been estimated in around 2200. It has a satellite, the Ultra Compact Dwarf galaxy M59-UCD3.
