File:Messier59_-_HST_-_Potw1921a.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Messier 59 is a large elliptical galaxy located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It's notable as one of the oldest and most massive galaxies known, helping astronomers understand how giant galaxies form and evolve over cosmic time.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Right ascension
- 12 42 02.322
- Declination
- +11 ° 38 ′ 48.95 ″
- Redshift
- 430 ± 13 km/s
- Distance
- 50.1 Mly (15.35 Mpc )
- Group or cluster
- Virgo Cluster
- Type
- E5
- Apparent size v
- 5.4 ′ × 3.7 ′
- Half light radius apparent
- 46″
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 19.13
- Radius
- 45000
- Image
- Messier59 - HST - Potw1921a.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- Messier 59
- catalog code
- LEDA 42628
- Commons gallery
- Messier 59
- time of discovery or invention
- 1779-04-11
- apparent magnitude
- 9.576
- galaxy morphological type
- E-E/S0
- redshift
- 0.001438
- right ascension
- 190.5096750
- declination
- 11.6469306
- radial velocity
- 431
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Article
Messier 59 or M59, also known as NGC 4621, is an elliptical galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. It is a member of the Virgo Cluster, with the nearest fellow member 8′ away and around 5 magnitudes fainter. The nearest cluster member of comparable brightness is the lenticular galaxy NGC 4638, which is around 17′ away. It and the angularly nearby elliptical galaxy Messier 60 were both discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler in April 1779 when observing comet seeming close by. Charles Messier listed both in the Messier Catalogue about three days after Koehler's discovery.
This is an elliptical galaxy of type E5 with a position angle of 163.3°, indicating the overall shape shows a flattening of 50%. However, isophotes for this galaxy deviate from a perfect ellipticity, showing pointed shapes instead. These can be decomposed mathematically into a three component model, with each part having a different eccentricity. The main elliptical component appears to be superimposed upon a flatter, disk-like feature, with the entirety embedded within a circular halo. The luminosity contribution of the components is 62% for the pure elliptical part, 22% for the halo, and the remainder coming from the disk. The light ratio of the disk to the main elliptical body is 0.25, whereas it is typically closer to 0.5 in a lenticular galaxy.