M77 · galaxy

Cetus A Galaxy

Messier 77 (M77), also known as NGC 1068 or the Squid Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus.

RA02h 42m 40sDec−00° 00' 47"

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Roma Tre Univ.. Source: JPL via images.nasa.gov.

Identity & coordinates

Identification

Primary designation: M77
All designations: M77 · NGC 1068 · Cetus A
Object type: Galaxy
Constellation: Cetus
Best viewing: Autumn · Winter

Coordinates & physical

Right ascension (J2000): 02h 42m 40s
Declination (J2000): −00° 00' 47"
Apparent magnitude (V): —
Distance: —
Redshift (z): 0.003793

III

Visibility tonight

The science

Messier 77 (M77), also known as NGC 1068 or the Squid Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It is about 47 million light-years (14 Mpc) away from Earth, and was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780, who originally described it as a nebula. Méchain then communicated his discovery to Charles Messier, who subsequently listed the object in his catalog. Both Messier and William Herschel described this galaxy as a star cluster. Today, however, the object is known to be a galaxy. It is one of the brightest Seyfert galaxies visible from Earth and has a D25 isophotal diameter of about 27.70 kiloparsecs (90,000 light-years).

Summary adapted from Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA-4.0