Messier 58 (M58)

Also Known as: NGC 4579

Object Type: Intermediate Barred Spiral Galaxy

Constellation: Virgo

Distance from Earth: 62 million light years

Apparent Magnitude: 10.5

Coordinates: RA 12H 37M 43.5S DEC 11deg 49min 05sec

Actual Size: 98,129.8 light years in diameter

Apparent Dimensions: 5.9 arc-minutes x 4.7 arc-minutes

Discovered by: The galaxy was discovered by Charles Messier on April 15, 1779 and subsequently included in his catalogue as object number 58. It was the first barred spiral galaxy to be added to Messier’s list.
Messier discovered it together with two elliptical galaxies located in the same area of the sky: Messier 59 and Messier 60. He described M58 as a “very faint nebula discovered in Virgo".

Description: M58 is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy with a weak inner ring structure, approximately 62 million light-years away from Earth.
Messier 58 is the most distant Messier object and one of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster.
The active galactic nucleus of M58 has a low luminosity.
The galaxy’s core may have some starburst activity and is believed to contain a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of about 70 million solar masses.
Messier 58 is one of the rare galaxies that have an Ultra-Compact Nuclear Ring (UCNR), which consists of multiple starburst regions found within a very small ring around the galaxy’s nucleus.
It is one of four barred spiral galaxies that appear in Messier's catalogue.
Messier 58 lies near a pair of interacting galaxies, NGC 4567 and NGC 4568, known as the Siamese Twins or Butterfly Galaxies.
Like many other spiral galaxies of the Virgo Cluster (e.g. Messier 90), Messier 58 is an anemic galaxy with low star formation activity concentrated within the galaxy's optical disk, and relatively little neutral hydrogen, also located inside its disk, concentrated in clumps, compared with other galaxies of similar morphological type.
This deficiency of gas is believed to be caused by interactions with Virgo's intracluster medium. Messier 58 has a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus, where a starburst may be present as well as a supermassive black hole with a mass of around 70 million solar masses.
It is also one of the very few galaxies known to possess a UCNR (ultra-compact nuclear ring), a series of star-forming regions located in a very small ring around the center of the galaxy. This led to its being dubbed the "ring bearer galaxy" by the popular astronomy YouTube program "Deep Sky videos".

Click Below Image(s) for Full Size:

In spite of its distance, M58 can be seen in large binoculars.
In small telescopes, which only reveal the galaxy’s bright center, M58 appears similar to elliptical galaxies found in the Virgo Cluster. 4-inch and larger telescopes show the galaxy’s halo, while 8-inch telescopes reveal a hint of the galaxy’s bar.

The best time of year to observe M58 is during the spring months of March, April, and May.

Platesolve

M58 Galaxy

Imaging Details
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