M61

M61 or NGC 4303

M61 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. Visible in M61 are a host of features common to spiral galaxies: bright spiral arms, a central bar, dust lanes, and bright knots of stars. M61, also known as NGC 4303, in similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy. M61 was discovered by telescope in 1779 twice on the same day, but one observer initially mistook the galaxy for a comet. Light from M61 takes about 60 million years to reach us. Recent observations of M61 have detected unpredicted high velocity gas moving in its halo.

M61是一个位于附近室女星系团中的棒旋星系。在M61中可以看到许多旋涡星系的典型特征：明亮的螺旋臂、中央棒状结构、尘埃带以及明亮的恒星团。M61也被称为NGC 4303，类似于我们的银河系。M61于1779年同一天被望远镜两次发现，但一位观察者最初误将其视为彗星。M61的光需要约6000万年才能到达我们这里。最近对M61的观测发现其晕中存在意外的高速气体运动。

M61 is one of the larger galaxies in the Virgo cluster; its 6 arc minutes of diameter correspond to about 100,000 light years, similar to the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy. (SEDS) It is classified as a SABbc spiral galaxy.

M61是室女座星团中较大的星系之一；其直径为6角分，对应约100,000光年，与银河系的直径相当。（SEDS）它被分类为SABbc螺旋星系。

Credit for image:Hillary Mathis, N.A.Sharp/NOAO/AURA/NSF . This picture was taken in February 1996 at the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope.

Sources

M61 in NASA Galaxy gallery
M61 在 NASA 星系画廊中
M61 in NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
M61 在NASA天文学每日图片中
SEDS file on M61
M61的SEDS文件
National Optical Astronomy Observatory posting.
国家光学天文台发布

源

M61或NGC 4303 图片版权：Hillary Mathis, N.A.Sharp/NOAO/AURA/NSF。这张照片于1996年2月在KPNO 0.9米望远镜拍摄。

Index

Galaxies

索引星系

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