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A beautiful, nearly face-on spiral galaxy in shades of blue and pink fills the view. Its bright-white core is bisected with rusty-brown clouds that extend into the inner part of the galaxy’s spiral arms. Bright reddish-pink star forming regions shine like beacons that dot its spiral arms.
Hubble · Messier 58 · NASA, ESA, D. Thilker (The Johns Hopkins University); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Messier 58

Galaxy in Virgo · 62 million light-years

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TypeGalaxy
ConstellationVirgo
Right ascension12h 37m 44s
Declination+11° 49′
Object distance62 million light-years
Apparent magnitude10.3
Apparent size5′ (arc-minutes)
Approx. true diameter90,175 light-years across
Also known asM58 · NGC 4579
Messier 58 is a galaxy (also catalogued as NGC 4579) in the constellation Virgo — an island of billions of stars far beyond our own Milky Way. It was recorded by Charles Messier in his famous catalogue of 110 deep-sky objects. It spans roughly 5 arc-minutes on the sky. At about magnitude 10.3, it shows up well in a small backyard telescope.

Although it appears about 5′ wide on the sky, its real span is roughly 90,175 light-years — the difference is a measure of how far away it lies.

Observing Messier 58

Messier 58 lies in the constellation Virgo and is best placed in the evening sky around March. Its maximum altitude above the horizon depends on your latitude. Lying near the celestial equator, it can be seen from both hemispheres. A small backyard telescope will show it; binoculars may hint at it under dark skies. Note that the listed magnitude is spread across the whole object — diffuse galaxies and nebulae are often harder to see than the number alone suggests, so dark, moonless skies help a great deal.

See Messier 58 in Universe Finder

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Sources

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