Messier 61
Encyclopedia
Messier
61 (also known as M61 or NGC
4303) is a spiral galaxy
in the Virgo Cluster
. It was discovered by Barnabus Oriani on May 5, 1779.
M61 is one of the larger members of the Virgo Cluster.
Six supernova
e have been observed in this galaxy:
Messier object
The Messier objects are a set of astronomical objects first listed by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1771. The original motivation of the catalogue was that Messier was a comet hunter, and was frustrated by objects which resembled but were not comets...
61 (also known as M61 or NGC
New General Catalogue
The New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars is a well-known catalogue of deep sky objects in astronomy. It contains 7,840 objects, known as the NGC objects...
4303) is a spiral galaxy
Spiral galaxy
A spiral galaxy is a certain kind of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae and, as such, forms part of the Hubble sequence. Spiral galaxies consist of a flat, rotating disk containing stars, gas and dust, and a central concentration of stars known as...
in the Virgo Cluster
Virgo Cluster
The Virgo Cluster is a cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly away in the constellation Virgo. Comprising approximately 1300 member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the larger Local Supercluster, of which the Local Group is an outlying member...
. It was discovered by Barnabus Oriani on May 5, 1779.
M61 is one of the larger members of the Virgo Cluster.
Six supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
e have been observed in this galaxy:
- SN 2008in
- SN 2006ov
- SN 1999gn
- SN 1964F
- SN 1961I
- SN 1926A