Observation by David Davies: Messier 85 and its faint structures

Uploaded by

David Davies

Observer

David Davies

Observed

2022 Mar 22 - 00:47

Uploaded

2022 Mar 31 - 09:52

Objects

M85
NGC4394
IC3292

Planetarium overlay

Enable overlay
Show stars
Label stars
Show deep sky objects
Label deep sky objects
Show constellation boundaries
Show constellation sticks
Show constellation labels
Show RA/Dec grid

Constellation

Coma Berenices

Field centre

RA: 12^h25^m
Dec: +18°11'
Position angle: -0°07'

Field size

0°27' × 0°20'

Equipment

QSI 683
8-inch Ritchey-Chretien
Skywatcher EQ8

Exposure

25 x 5 min Luminance, 20 x 3 min RGB, binned 2 x 2

Location

Cambridge, UK

Target name

Messier 85 and its neighbours

Title

Messier 85 and its faint structures

About this image

Now is the season for observing the last few Messier objects on my list in the Virgo cluster. I anticipated that M85 would be a fairly ordinary elliptical galaxy. Not so. It has turned out to be a fascinating object with subtle structure and a faint, extended boundary which would classify it as a lenticular galaxy. M85 is a 10th magnitude galaxy that is interacting with the neighbouring galaxies, mag 12 NGC 4394 to the east (left) and mag 17 PGC040512 directly to the south. Studies have shown that M85 has a twin-core and a faint but complex structure of bands and ripples. These structures are thought to be due to a merger with another galaxy around 4 to 7 billion years ago. The image shows evidence of these faint structures. Also in the image is the mag 15 galaxy, IC 3292 to the west.

Further, alongside a tiny blue star to the northwest, and seen through the boundary of the galaxy, is a faint structure that might be the mag 19 Quasar J1225+182. This Quasar has a redshift of 1.19 and is estimated to be 8.5 billion light-years away. (This object might not be visible in this low-resolution jpg.)

Files associated with this observation

M85_web.jpg (1.2 MB)

Like this image

Alan Thomas, Peter Tickner, Nick Hewitt, Callum Potter, Simon Paul Davis

Copyright of all images and other observations submitted to the BAA remains with the owner of the work. Reproduction of work by third parties is expressly forbidden without the consent of the copyright holder. By submitting images to this online gallery, you grant the BAA permission to reproduce them in any of our publications.

Registered charity no. 210769
Registered company no. 117572

For more information including contact details, click here.

Our Terms of Use are here.

Our Privacy Policy is here.