NGC4038B · Messier 88
| Chinese name | M88 星系 |
|---|---|
| Type | Galaxy |
| Constellation | Com |
| RA | 12h32m |
| Dec | +14° |
| Apparent magnitude | 9.6ᵐ |
| Hemisphere | Both hemispheres |
| Best season | Spring |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Focal length | 长焦 1000mm+ |
About
M88 lies about 50 million light-years away in Coma Berenices and is one of the most beautiful spiral galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, seen at an elegant inclination. Its many symmetric, tightly wound arms are lined with clear dust lanes and pink star-forming regions around a bright, compact bulge. It is a Seyfert galaxy with an active supermassive black hole at its core. Plunging at high speed into the cluster's hot intracluster medium, its leading gas is being stripped, a visible sign of galaxy-cluster interaction. Under long focal lengths it shows rich, finely textured arms, a popular highlight of the spring Coma galaxy fields.