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A spiral galaxy. It has a bright core with light spilling out. Its disk holds thick clumps of dark reddish dust, which swirls around the galaxy following its rotation. Brighter and hotter stars, shown in blue, speckle parts of the disk. A halo of faint gas wraps around the galaxy, extending beyond the edges of the image.
Hubble · Messier 90 · ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team

Messier 90

Galaxy in Virgo · 58.7 million light-years

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TypeGalaxy
ConstellationVirgo
Right ascension12h 36m 50s
Declination+13° 10′
Object distance58.7 million light-years
Apparent magnitude9.5
Apparent size9.1′ (arc-minutes)
Approx. true diameter155,384 light-years across
Also known asM90 · NGC 4569
Messier 90 is a galaxy (also catalogued as NGC 4569) 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 9.1 arc-minutes on the sky. At about magnitude 9.5, it shows up well in a small backyard telescope.

Although it appears about 9.1′ wide on the sky, its real span is roughly 155,384 light-years — the difference is a measure of how far away it lies.

Observing Messier 90

Messier 90 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.

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Sources

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