Messier 59 or M59 , also known as NGC 4621 , is an elliptical galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Virgo . It is a member of the Virgo Cluster , with the nearest fellow member 8 ′ away and around 5 magnitudes fainter. The nearest cluster member of comparable brightness is the lenticular galaxy NGC 4638 , which is around 17′ away. It and the angularly nearby elliptical galaxy Messier 60 were both discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler in April 1779 when observing comet seeming close by. Charles Messier listed both in the Messier Catalogue about three days after Koehler's discovery.
16-505: M59 may refer to: Messier 59 , an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo M59 armored personnel carrier , a United States military vehicle M59 rifle , a Yugoslav copy of the SKS M-59 (Michigan highway) , a Michigan state highway near Detroit M59 (Cape Town) , a Metropolitan Route in Cape Town, South Africa M59 (Johannesburg) ,
32-505: A Metropolitan Route in Johannesburg, South Africa M59 (Durban) , a Metropolitan Route in Durban, South Africa Meridian 59 , an online game M59/85 , a Yugoslav modification of Stahlhelm that eventually replaced the latter 155 mm gun M59 , United States military field gun [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
48-413: A flatter, disk-like feature, with the entirety embedded within a circular halo. The luminosity contribution of the components is 62% for the pure elliptical part, 22% for the halo, and the remainder coming from the disk. The light ratio of the disk to the main elliptical body is 0.25, whereas it is typically closer to 0.5 in a lenticular galaxy . The core contains a supermassive black hole (SMBH), with
64-501: A mass that has been estimated to be 270 million times the mass of the Sun , and counter-rotates with respect of the rest of the galaxy, being bluer. The SMBH is quiescent, but is detectable as an X-ray and radio source that indicates an outflow. The nucleus contains an embedded stellar disk that is bluer (younger) than the bulge region , with a blue component stretching along a position angle of around 150°. This extended disk feature may be
80-451: A normal dwarf into M32. The observed colours and stellar populations of M32's outskirts do not match the stellar halo of M31, indicating that tidal losses from M32 are not their source. Taken together, these circumstances may suggest that M32 already began in its compact state, and has retained most of its own stars. At least one similar cE galaxy has been discovered in isolation, without any massive companion to thresh it. Another hypothesis
96-414: A scenario in which the strong tidal field of M31 can transform a spiral galaxy or a lenticular galaxy into a compact elliptical. As a small disk galaxy falls into the central parts of M31, much of its outer layers will be stripped away. The central bulge of the small galaxy is much less affected and retains its morphology. Gravitational tidal effects may also drive gas inward and trigger a star burst in
112-502: Is a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749. The galaxy is a prototype of the relatively rare compact elliptical (cE) class. Half the stars concentrate within an effective radius (inner core) of 330 light-years (100 pc). Densities in the central stellar cusp increase steeply, exceeding 3×10 (that is, 30 million) M ☉ pc (that is, per parsec cubed) at
128-414: Is an elliptical galaxy of type E5 with a position angle of 163.3°, indicating the overall shape shows a flattening of 50%. However, isophotes for this galaxy deviate from a perfect ellipticity, showing pointed shapes instead. These can be decomposed mathematically into a three component model, with each part having a different eccentricity. The main elliptical component appears to be superimposed upon
144-595: Is that M32 is in fact the largest remnant of a former spiral galaxy, M32p , which was then the third largest member of the Local Group. According to this simulation, M31 (Andromeda) and M32p merged about two billion years ago, which could explain both the unusual makeup of the current M31 stellar halo, and the structure and content of M32. At least two techniques have been used to measure distances to M32. The infrared surface brightness fluctuations distance measurement technique estimates distances to spiral galaxies based on
160-560: Is thought to be in the foreground of M31, rather than behind. Its stars and planetary nebulae do not appear obscured or reddened by foreground gas or dust. Gravitational microlensing of M31 by a star in M32 was observed at the end of November 2000 in one event (with peak on 2 December 2000). M32 contains a supermassive black hole . Its mass has been estimated to lie between 1.5 and 5 million solar masses. A centrally located faint radio and X-ray source (now named M32* in analogy to Sgr A* )
176-486: The core of the small galaxy, resulting in the high density of M32 observed today. There is evidence that M32 has a faint outer disk, and as such is not a typical elliptical galaxy. Newer simulations find that an off-centre impact by M32 around 800 million years ago explains the present-day warp in M31's disk. However this feature only occurs during the first orbital passage, whereas it takes many orbits for tides to transform
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#1732854842235192-413: The graininess of the appearance of their bulges. The distance measured to M32 using this technique is 2.46 ± 0.09 million light-years (755 ± 28 kpc ). However, M32 is close enough that the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) method may be used to estimate its distance. The estimated distance to M32 using this technique is 2.51 ± 0.13 million light-years (770 ± 40 kpc). For several additional reasons, M32
208-508: The result of a galactic merger followed by a starburst event. Messier 59 is very rich in globular clusters , with a population of them that has been estimated to be around 2,200. It has two satellites, the ultra compact dwarf galaxy M59-UCD3 and M59cO , which is a rare example of a galaxy in between compact ellipticals such as Messier 32 and ultra compact dwarfs. One supernova has been recorded in M59: SN 1939B ( type Ia , mag. 15)
224-503: The same title formed as a letter–number combination. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M59&oldid=1129447121 " Category : Letter–number combination disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Messier 59 This
240-549: The smallest sub-radii resolved by HST , and the half-light radius of this central star cluster is around 6 parsecs (20 ly). Like more ordinary elliptical galaxies , M32 contains mostly older faint red and yellow stars with practically no dust or gas and consequently no current star formation . It does, however, show hints of star formation in the relatively recent past. The structure and stellar content of M32 are difficult to explain by traditional galaxy formation models. Theoretical arguments and some simulations suggest
256-488: Was discovered by Fritz Zwicky on 19 May 1939. It reached a peak magnitude of 11.9. The region where this supernova occurred shows no trace of star formation, which suggests this was a type Ia supernova. Messier 32 Messier 32 (also known as M32 and NGC 221 ) is a dwarf "early-type" galaxy about 2,650,000 light-years (810,000 pc) from the Solar System , appearing in the constellation Andromeda . M32
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