Messier 61 (M61) and its Tidal Stream
May 13, 2025
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A barred-spiral galaxy in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, Messier 61 (M61) is approximately 55 million light years distant. It has been the home of seven observed supernovas—the most of any galaxy in the Messier catalogue. The most recent, SN2014dt, was observed in 2014.
It sports a very faint tidal tail, barely visible in the image, shooting straight out of it at eleven o'clock. This is likely due to the gravitational chicanery that occurs in galaxy clusters like the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. The tail is approximately 160,000 light years long. Scientists assert that this was caused by interaction with a dwarf galaxy, which is also suspected of having triggered a starburst (massive star formation) in the galaxy.
Planewave CDK12.5
Telescope
Finder Chart
Click to expand
Total integration: 30h 29m
Integration per filter:
- Lum: 1h 12m (144 × 180")
- R: 5h 6m (102 × 180")
- G: 5h 6m (102 × 180")
- B: 5h (100 × 180")
- Hα: 8h 5m (97 × 300")
Coordinates: 22h 17m 27s · +58° 52′ 3″
Image Capture
Location:
Deep Sky West
Camera:
Moravian C5a-100M
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