M87 — Virgo A
Galaxy in Virgo
About
A supergiant elliptical galaxy in Virgo, about 53.5 million light-years away. Its core black hole, about 6.5 billion Suns, was the subject of the first black hole image in 2019, and a jet of plasma extends at least 5,000 light-years from it.
Imaging tips
- About 7′ across, so 3,460–5,770 mm on APS-C frames it.
- The jet lies right beside a very bright core. One amateur image with a 6-inch f/9 reflector was made to show it by lowering the brightness of the core in processing.
- An old 30-second exposure is described by an observing club as the kind that best shows the jet, so short frames are worth including alongside deep ones.
- Thousands of globular clusters surround it (estimates run from 12,000 to 15,000), which appear as faint dots in deep images.
- Best in March and April.
Facts
- Size
- 7′ × 7′
- Magnitude
- 8.6
- Coordinates
- RA 12h 30.8m, Dec +12° 24′
- Framing, APS-C
- 3460–5770 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Mar, Apr
- Peak altitude
- 52° from 50°N, 67° from 35°N