Spiral Galaxy Messier 106: Wide View | Mayall Telescope

Spiral Galaxy Messier 106: Wide View | Mayall Telescope

This image of the spiral galaxy Messier 106, or NGC 4258, was taken with the 4-meter Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, a Program of the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab. A popular target for amateur astronomers, Messier 106 can also be spotted with a small telescope in the constellation Canes Venatici. This view captures the entire galaxy, detailing the glowing spiral arms, wisps of gas, and dust lanes at the center of Messier 106 as well as the leisurely twisting bands of stars at the galaxy’s outer edges. Two dwarf galaxies also appear in the image—NGC 4248 is to the lower right of Messier 106, and UGC 7358 is to the left of Messier 106.

Distance: over 20 million light-years

Image Credit:

KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Acknowledgment: PI: M.T. Patterson (New Mexico State University)

Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), M. Zamani & D. de Martin

Release Date: March 16, 2021

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