Messier 77
| Messier 77 | |
|---|---|
M77 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Cetus |
| Right ascension | 02h 42m 40.771s |
| Declination | −00° 00′ 47.84″ |
| Redshift | 0.003793 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 1,137±3 km/s |
| Distance | 47 Mly (14.4 Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 8.9 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | (R)SA(rs)b |
| Mass | ~1×1012 M☉ |
| Size | 27.70 kiloparsecs (90,000 light-years) (diameter; D25 isophote) |
| Apparent size (V) | 7.1′ × 6.0′ |
| Notable features | One of the biggest galaxies of Messier's catalog. Inclination estimated to be 40°. |
| Other designations | |
| Cetus A,, 3C 71, 4C -00.13, IRAS 02401-0013, NGC 1068, Arp 37, UGC 2188, MCG +00-07-083, PGC 10266, CGCG 388-098 | |
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).