Messier 58
| Messier 58 | |
|---|---|
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Right ascension | 12h 37m 43.522s |
| Declination | +11° 49′ 05.498″ |
| Redshift | 0.00506 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 1517 ± 1 km/s |
| Distance | 21 megaparsecs (68 million light-years) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 9.7 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SAB(rs)b; LINER Sy 1.9 |
| Size | 40.72 kiloparsecs (133,000 light-years) diameter; 2MASS K-band total isophote |
| Apparent size (V) | 5.9′ × 4.7′ |
| Other designations | |
| NGC 4579, UGC 7796, PGC 42168, VCC 1727, GC 3121 | |
Messier 58 (also known as M58 and NGC 4579) is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy with a weak inner ring structure located within the constellation Virgo, approximately 68 million light-years away from Earth. It was discovered by Charles Messier on April 15, 1779 and is one of four barred spiral galaxies that appear in Messier's catalogue. M58 is one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. From 1779 it was arguably (though unknown at that time) the farthest known astronomical object until the release of the New General Catalogue in the 1880s and even more so the publishing of redshift values in the 1920s.