Messier 58

For the motorway, see M58 motorway.

Messier 58
An infrared image of M58 taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST). Credit: SST/NASA/JPL.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Virgo[1]
Right ascension	12h 37m 43.5s[2]
Declination	+11° 49′ 05″[2]
Redshift	0.00506[2]
Helio Radial velocity	1517 ± 1 km/s[2]
Distance	62 Mly (19.1 Mpc) (NED)[3] 68 Mly[4]
Type	SAB(rs)b[2]
Apparent dimensions (V)	5′.9 × 4′.7[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)	+10.5[2]
Other designations
NGC 4579, UGC 7796, PGC 42168, VCC 1727[2]
See also: Galaxy, List of galaxies

Messier 58 (also known as M58 and NGC 4579) is a barred spiral galaxy located within the constellation Virgo, approximately 68 million light-years away from Earth.^[5][6] It was discovered by Charles Messier on April 15, 1779 and is one of four barred spiral galaxies that appear in Messier's catalogue.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]} M58 is one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.^[10][13] From 1779 it was arguably (though unknown at that time) the farthest known astronomical object^{[citation needed]} until the release of the New General Catalogue in the 1880s and even more so the publishing of redshift values in the 1920s.

Early observations

Charles Messier discovered Messier 58, along with the elliptical galaxies Messier 59 and Messier 60, on April 15, 1779.^[10] M58 was reported on the chart of the Comet of 1779 as it was almost on the same parallel as the star Epsilon Virginis.^[7][14] Messier described M58 as a very faint nebula in Virgo which would disappear in the slightest amount of light he used to illuminate the micrometer wires.^[7][15] This description was later contradicted by John Herschel’s observations in 1833 where he described it as a very bright galaxy, especially towards the middle. Herschel’s observations were also similar to the descriptions of both John Dreyer and William Henry Smyth who said that M58 was a bright galaxy, mottled, irregularly round and very much brighter toward the middle.^[7]

Supernovae

Two supernovae have been studied in the M58 galaxy.^[2] A type II supernova dubbed as SN 1988A was discovered by Kaoru Ikeya on January 18, 1988.^[10] It had an apparent magnitude of 13.5 from its center. A Type I supernova dubbed as SN 1989M was then found on June 28, 1989 by Kimeridze.^[10] This one had an apparent magnitude of 12.2 from its nucleus.

See also

• Messier 91
• Messier 95
• Messier 109
• M100
• NGC 4536

References

1. ^ R. W. Sinnott, editor (1988). The Complete New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters by J. L. E. Dreyer. Sky Publishing Corporation and Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-933-34651-4. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for MESSIER 058. http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=Messier+58&img_stamp=yes. Retrieved 2006-10-05. 
3. ^ "Distance Results for MESSIER 058". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nDistance?name=MESSIER+058. Retrieved 2010-04-28. 
4. ^ G. Gavazzi, A. Boselli, M. Scodeggio, D. Pierini and E. Belsole (1999). "The 3D structure of the Virgo cluster from H-band Fundamental Plane and Tully-Fisher distance determinations". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 304 (3): 595–610. arXiv:astro-ph/9812275. Bibcode 1999MNRAS.304..595G. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02350.x. 
5. ^ "Messier 58 Galaxy". Solarius. http://www.solarius.net/assets/finder_charts/messier_58.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-09. 
6. ^ "M 58 -- LINER-type Active Galaxy Nucleus". SIMBAD. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=M+58&jsessionid=4412FDA6F60FA262F9963C434A94E239. Retrieved 2010-02-23. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d} "Messier 58: Observations and Descriptions". SEDS. http://seds.org/MESSIER/Mdes/dm058.html. Retrieved 2010-02-23. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ Burnham, Robert Jr (1978). Burnham's Celestial Handbook: Volume Three, Pavo Through Vulpecula. Dover. pp. 2086–2088. ISBN 0-486-23673-0. http://books.google.com/?id=PJzIt3SIlkUC&pg=PA2086. 
9. ^ William Liller (1992). The Cambridge guide to astronomical discovery. Cambridge University Press. p. 29. ISBN 0521418399. http://books.google.com/?id=khtT0QAXI9QC&pg=PA29. 
10. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Messier 58". SEDS. http://seds.org/MESSIER/m/m058.html. Retrieved 2010-02-23. ^{[dead link]}
11. ^ "Oceanside Photo and Telescope". http://www.optcorp.com/edu/articleListEDU.aspx?cid=103. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 
12. ^ The other barred spiral galaxies in Messier's catalogue are Messier 91, Messier 95 and Messier 109
13. ^ "Messier Catalog M51 - M60". SEASKY. http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy_messier_51to60.html. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 
14. ^ "Charles Messier's Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters". SEDS: Charles Messier's Catalog. http://seds.org/messier/xtra/history/m-cat.html. Retrieved 2010-02-23. 
15. ^ "Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters.". SEDS: Observed at Paris by M. Messier. http://seds.org/MESSIER/xtra/history/m-cat.html#M58. Retrieved 2010-02-23. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• SEDS Messier: M58
• Spitzer Space Telescope page on Messier 58
• Messier 58 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images

Coordinates: 12^h 37^m 43.5^s, +11° 49′ 05″