Messier 91

Image Credit: NASA, ESA

The spiral galaxy M91 was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. It was the last of the nine objects (M84–M92) that Messier added to his catalog on a single night in March. Located 60 million light-years from Earth with an apparent magnitude of only 11, M91 is one of the faintest objects in Messier’s catalog. In a dark sky, the galaxy can be spotted with medium-sized telescopes in the constellation Coma Berenices most easily during May.

M91 is one of over a thousand galaxies that make up the Virgo cluster — a group of galaxies that are gravitationally bound to one another. It is an anemic galaxy, meaning that it has a lower rate of star formation compared to other spiral galaxies.

This image of M91 combines ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths. It was taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 as part of an effort to explore the connections between young stars and cold gas in a variety of nearby galaxies.

For more information about Hubble’s observations of M91, see:

Astronomers Track Down Asteroids in Hubble Archive

Image Credit: Image Courtesy of Stellarium\

Previous Object: Messier 90/\ Next Object: Messier 92

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