< Messier Index
Messier 66

M66 as observed with the w:Spitzer Space Telescope as part of the SINGS. The image is a four-channel false-color composite, where blue indicates emission at 3.6 micrometers, green corresponds to 4.5 micrometers, and red to 5.8 and 8.0 micrometers. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 micrometers) in this picture has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8 micrometer images to enhance the visibility of the w:polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emissions.
Observation data (w:J2000 epoch)
Constellation Leo
Right ascension 11h 20m 15.0s[1]
Declination +12° 59′ 30″[1]
Redshift 0.002425 (727 ± 3 km/s)[1]
Distance 36 +/- 5.0 Mly (11.0 +/- 1.5 Mpc
Type SAB(s)b[1]
Apparent dimensions (V) 9.1′ × 4.2′[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 8.9[2]
Notable features Galaxy in the w:Leo Triplet
Other designations
NGC 3627, UGC 6346, PGC 34695, Arp 16[1]

Messier 66 (also known as NGC 3627) is an w:intermediate spiral galaxy about 36 million w:light-years away in the w:constellation Leo. It was discovered by w:Charles Messier in w:1780. M66 is about 95 thousand light-years across[3] with striking dust lanes and bright star clusters along sweeping spiral arms.[4] M66 is part of the famous w:Leo Triplet, a small w:group of galaxies that also includes M65 and w:NGC 3628.

History

The colour-composite image of the Spiral galaxy M 66 (or NGC 3627)
Messier 66 in w:Leo with amateur telescope.

Gravitational interaction from its past encounter with neighboring NGC 3628 has resulted in:

This third result shows up visually as an extremely prominent and unusual spiral arm and dust lane structures as originally noted in the w:Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 3627. http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/. Retrieved 2006-08-31.
  2. ↑ G. de Vaucouleurs, A. de Vaucouleurs, H. G. Corwin, R. J. Buta, G. Paturel, P. Fouque (1991). Third Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies. New York: Springer-Verlag.
  3. ↑ 36.2 mly × tan( 9′.1 ) = ~96 kly. radius
  4. 1 2 Zhang, Xiaolei; Wright, Melvyn; Alexander, Paul (1993). "High-Resolution CO and H i Observations of the Interacting Galaxy NGC 3627". Astrophysical Journal 418: 100. doi:10.1086/173374. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1993ApJ...418..100Z.
 
Messier Index
M1 • M2 • M3 • M4 • M5 • M6 • M7 • M8 • M9 • M10 • M11 • M12 • M13 • M14 • M15 • M16 • M17 • M18 • M19 • M20 • M21 • M22 • M23 • M24 • M25 • M26 • M27 • M28 • M29 • M30 • M31 • M32 • M33 • M34 • M35 • M36 • M37 • M38 • M39 • M40 • M41 • M42 • M43 • M44 • M45 • M46 • M47 • M48 • M49 • M50 • M51 • M52 • M53 • M54 • M55 • M56 • M57 • M58 • M59 • M60 • M61 • M62 • M63 • M64 • M65 • M66 • M67 • M68 • M69 • M70 • M71 • M72 • M73 • M74 • M75 • M76 • M77 • M78 • M79 • M80 • M81 • M82 • M83 • M84 • M85 • M86 • M87 • M88 • M89 • M90 • M91 • M92 • M93 • M94 • M95 • M96 • M97 • M98 • M99 • M100 • M101 • M102 • M103 • M104 • M105 • M106 • M107 • M108 • M109 • M110
This article is issued from Wikibooks. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.