Messier 99 (rflinn68)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Coma Berenices (Com) · Contains: M 99 · NGC 4254 · Pin-wheel nebula

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Messier 99

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Messier 99

M99 (NGC 4254) in an unbarred spiral galaxy approximately 50 million light years away. It is listed as being in the constellation Coma Berenices, but actually lies near dead center between the three constellations of Coma Berenices, Virgo, and Leo. It is just a couple degrees away from the popular Markarian's Chain. Its common names include Coma Pinwheel Galaxy, Virgo Cluster Pinwheel, and Pinwheel nebula. J2000 coordinates: RA 12h 18m 49.6s and Dec +14* 24'59".

Apparent size of M99 is 5.4' X 4.7', and apparent magnitude is 10.4.

Interesting info from Wiki.......The galaxy has a normal looking arm and an extended arm that is less tightly wound. A bridge of neutral hydrogen gas links NGC 4254 with VIRGOHI21, a HI region and a possible dark galaxy. The gravity from the latter may have distorted M99 and drawn out the gas bridge, as the two galaxy-sized objects may have had a close encounter, before they went their separate ways (however the existence of VIRGOHI21 is unclear and another candidate is the lenticular galaxy NGC 4262 with this event having taken place 280 million years ago). It is expected that the drawn out arm will relax to match the normal arm once the encounter is over. Four supernovae have been observed in this galaxy.

While not classified as a starburst galaxy, M99 has a star formation activity three times larger than other galaxies of similar Hubble type that may have been triggered by that encounter.

Some authors also suggest that M99 is entering the Virgo Cluster for the first time and, after the aforementioned interaction, its suffering ram-pressure stripping as it moves through the intracluster medium.

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