Magnitude 10.18 Apparent magnitude (V) 10.18 | Constellation Virgo | |
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Similar Messier 62, Messier 59, Messier 53, Messier 60, Messier 49 | ||
Messier 61 (also known as M61 or NGC 4303) is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. It was discovered by Barnabus Oriani on May 5, 1779.
Properties
M61 is one of the largest members of Virgo, belonging to the subunit known as S Cloud It has an Active galactic nucleus and it is classified as a starburst galaxy, with a candidate supermassive black hole with a mass around 5 million times that of our Sun on its center. This object is associated with a young, massive star cluster with a mass 100,000 times the one of the Sun, a radius of 3.1 parsecs and an age of 4 million years. It is surrounded by a nuclear spiral with a radius of 225 parsecs formed by several massive star-forming regions, that may be associated with a second bar much smaller than the main one of this galaxy. Star formation is also high across M61's disk, perhaps due to interactions with her satellite galaxies NGC 4292 and NGC 4303B. Unlike most late-type galaxies of the Virgo Cluster, M61 does not show a deficiency of neutral hydrogen Seven supernovae have been observed in this galaxy making it one of the most active Supernova galaxies known:
