Messier 58 Explained

Messier 58
Epoch:J2000
Constellation Name:Virgo[1]
Type:SAB(rs)b;
LINER Sy1.9
Z:0.00506
Dist Ly:62 Mly (19.1 Mpc)
(NED)[2]
68 Mly[3]
Appmag V:9.7[4]
Size V:5.9 × 4.7
Names:NGC 4579, UGC 7796, PGC 42168, VCC 1727, GC 3121

Messier 58 (also known as M58 and NGC 4579) is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy with a weak inner ring structure 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.[13] [14] From 1779 it was arguably (though unknown at that time) the farthest known astronomical object[15] 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. M58 was reported on the chart of the Comet of 1779 as it was almost on the same parallel as the star Epsilon Virginis.[16] 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.[17] 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.

Characteristics

Like many other spiral galaxies of the Virgo Cluster (e.g. Messier 90), Messier 58 is an anemic galaxy with low star formation activity concentrated within the galaxy's optical disk,[18] and relatively little neutral hydrogen, also located inside its disk, concentrated in clumps,[19] compared with other galaxies of similar morphological type. This deficiency of gas is believed to be caused by interactions with Virgo's intracluster medium.

Messier 58 has a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus, where a starburst may be present[20] as well as a supermassive black hole with a mass of around 70 million solar masses.[21] It is also one of the very few galaxies known to possess a UCNR (ultra-compact nuclear ring), a series of star-forming regions located in a very small ring around the center of the galaxy.[22] This led to its being dubbed the "ring bearer galaxy" by the popular astronomy YouTube program "Deep Sky videos".

Supernovae

Two supernovae have been studied in the M58 galaxy.[23] A type II supernova dubbed as SN 1988A was discovered by Kaoru Ikeya, Robert Evans, Christian Pollas and Shingo Horiguchi on January 18, 1988.[24] It had an apparent magnitude of 13.5 found 40 arcseconds south of its center. A Type I supernova dubbed as SN 1989M was then found on June 28, 1989 by Kimeridze. This one had an apparent magnitude of 12.2 found 33 arcseconds north and 44 arcseconds west of its nucleus.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: R. W.. Sinnott . The Complete New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters by J. L. E. Dreyer . 1988 . Sky Publishing Corporation and Cambridge University Press . 978-0-933346-51-2.
  2. Web site: Distance Results for MESSIER 058 . NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database . 2010-04-28.
  3. Gavazzi . G. . Boselli . A. . Scodeggio . M. . Pierini . D. . Belsole . E. . 1999-04-15 . The 3D structure of the Virgo cluster from H-band Fundamental Plane and Tully--Fisher distance determinations . . en . 304 . 3 . 595–610 . astro-ph/9812275 . 1999MNRAS.304..595G . 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02350.x . free . 41700753 . 0035-8711 . Oxford University Press.
  4. Web site: Messier 58 . 29 April 2022 . SEDS Messier Catalog.
  5. Web site: Messier 58 Galaxy. Solarius. 2010-02-09. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101011073455/http://solarius.net/assets/finder_charts/messier_58.pdf. 2010-10-11.
  6. M 58. 2010-02-23.
  7. Web site: Messier 58: Observations and Descriptions . SEDS . 2010-02-23.
  8. Book: Burnham, Robert Jr . [{{google books|plainurl=yes|id=PJzIt3SIlkUC|pg=PA2086}} Burnham's Celestial Handbook: Volume Three, Pavo Through Vulpecula ]. 1978 . Dover . 978-0-486-23673-5 . 2086–2088 . Robert Burnham Jr.
  9. Book: Liller, William . [{{google books|plainurl=yes|id=khtT0QAXI9QC|pg=PA29}} The Cambridge guide to astronomical discovery ]. 1992 . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-41839-3 . 29.
  10. Web site: Messier 58 . SEDS . 2010-02-23.
  11. Web site: Oceanside Photo and Telescope . 2010-02-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110724193241/http://www.optcorp.com/edu/articleListEDU.aspx?cid=103 . 2011-07-24 .
  12. The other barred spiral galaxies in Messier's catalogue are Messier 91, Messier 95 and Messier 109
  13. Web site: Messier Object 58 . 2006-11-18. https://web.archive.org/web/19961225122016/http://messier.seds.org/m/m058.html. 1996-12-25.
  14. Web site: Messier Catalog M51 - M60 . SEASKY. 2010-02-28.
  15. Web site: Smethurst. Dr Rebecca. Haran. Brady. The Ring Bearer Galaxy (M58) - Deep Sky Videos. Deep Sky Videos. Brady Haran and University of Nottingham. 7 February 2018. 7 February 2018.
  16. Web site: Charles Messier's Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters . SEDS: Charles Messier's Catalog . 2010-02-23.
  17. Web site: Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters.. SEDS: Observed at Paris by M. Messier. 2010-02-23.
  18. Koopmann . R. A. . Kenney . J. D. P. . 2004 . Hα Morphologies and Environmental Effects in Virgo Cluster Spiral Galaxies . . 613 . 2 . 866–885 . astro-ph/0406243 . 2004ApJ...613..866K . 10.1086/423191. 17519217 .
  19. Cayatte . V. . van Gorkom . J. H. . Balkowski . C. . Kotanyi . C. . 1990 . VLA observations of neutral hydrogen in Virgo Cluster galaxies. I - The Atlas . The Astronomical Journal . 100 . 604–634 . 1990AJ....100..604C . 10.1086/115545. free .
  20. Contini . Marcella . 2004 . The complex structure of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei: NGC 4579 . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 354 . 3 . 675–683 . astro-ph/0407379 . 2004MNRAS.354..675C . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08222.x. free . 16380554 .
  21. Merloni . Andrea . Heinz . Sebastian . di Matteo . Tiziana . 2003 . A Fundamental Plane of black hole activity . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 345 . 4 . 1057–1076 . astro-ph/0305261 . 2003MNRAS.345.1057M . 10.1046/j.1365-2966.2003.07017.x. 14310323 .
  22. Book: Comerón . S. . Knapen . J. H. . Beckman . J. E. . 2008 . Discovery of Four New Ultra-compact Nuclear Rings in Three Spiral Galaxies . Pathways Through an Eclectic Universe . ASP Conference Series . 390 . 172 . 2008ASPC..390..172C.
  23. Web site: NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database . Results for MESSIER 058 . 2006-10-05.
  24. Web site: List of Supernovae . IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams . 11 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150811052600/http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/lists/Supernovae.html . 11 August 2015 . dead .

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