File:M99s_crop.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Messier 99 is a spiral galaxy located about 50 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It's notable to astronomers as a well-studied example of a spiral galaxy and is bright enough to be observed through amateur telescopes.
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Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 17
- Image
- M99s.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- Messier 99
- catalog code
- LEDA 39578
- time of discovery or invention
- 1781-03-15
- Commons gallery
- Messier 99
- redshift
- 0.008029
- apparent magnitude
- 6.929
- galaxy morphological type
- Sc(dSc)
- right ascension
- 184.7067708
- declination
- 14.4164889
- radial velocity
- 2399
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Article
Messier 99 or M99, also known as NGC 4254 or St. Catherine's Wheel, is a grand design spiral galaxy in the northern constellation Coma Berenices approximately 15,000,000 parsecs (49,000,000 light-years) from the Milky Way. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on 17 March 1781. The discovery was then reported to Charles Messier, who included the object in the Messier Catalogue of comet-like objects. It was one of the first galaxies in which a spiral pattern was seen. This pattern was first identified by Lord Rosse in the spring of 1846.
This galaxy has a morphological classification of SA(s)c, indicating a pure spiral shape with loosely wound arms. It has a peculiar shape with one normal looking arm and an extended arm that is less tightly wound. The galaxy is inclined by 42° to the line-of-sight with a major axis position angle of 68°.