Galaxy
Cetus A
Spiral galaxy · M77 · NGC 1068
Spiral galaxy in Cetus
Photo: NASA, ESA & A. van der Hoeven · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Messier 77 (M77), also known as NGC 1068 or the Squid Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It is 35 million light-years (11 Mpc) away from Earth, and was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780, who originally described it as a nebula. Méchain then communicated his discovery to Charles Messier, who subsequently listed the object in his catalog. Both Messier and William Herschel described this galaxy as a star cluster. Today, however, the object is known to be a galaxy. It is one of the brightest Seyfert galaxies visible from Earth and has a D25 isophotal diameter of about 27.70 kiloparsecs (90,000 light-years).
Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~47 million light-years
Apparent mag.
+8.9
Apparent size
7.1′ × 6.0′
Best seen with
Binoculars
Catalogue
M77 · NGC 1068
Did you know
- Listed as Messier 77 in the Messier catalogue, also known as NGC 1068.
- Found in the constellation Cetus.
- Within reach of ordinary binoculars under dark skies.
