Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Virgo (Vir)  ·  Contains:  IC 3443  ·  M 87  ·  NGC 4486
M87 (Arp 152), Gary Imm
M87 (Arp 152), Gary Imm

M87 (Arp 152)

M87 (Arp 152), Gary Imm
M87 (Arp 152), Gary Imm

M87 (Arp 152)

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Description

Although M87 looks like just a fuzzy ball, it is one of the most massive galaxies in the universe. Unlike a spiral galaxy, M87 has no distinctive dust lanes. Instead, it has an almost featureless, ellipsoidal shape typical of most giant elliptical galaxies.

M87 is located 50 million light years away in the constellation of Virgo at a declination of +12 degrees.  It spans 9 arc-minutes and is 130,000 light years in diameter.

The most interesting visual aspect of this object is the tiny blue jet visible near its core. Scientists believe that the jet is caused by outflow from a supermassive black hole which is ejecting matter at nearly the speed of light. But nobody yet understands exactly how this process works, or why such a jet is not similarly seen in any other galaxy in the universe.

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    M87 (Arp 152), Gary Imm
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M87 (Arp 152), Gary Imm