Lenticular galaxy M85 (NGC 4382)


UA 16-inch image of Messier 85

The S0 galaxy Messier 85 (NGC 4382) in Virgo, shown in an R-band CCD image obtained with the UA 16-inch telescope. The field of view shown is 8.6 arcminutes wide. The galaxy's classification as an S0 is based mostly on the fairly gentle slope of the brightness profile; any disk is seen so nearly face-on as to be hard to distinguish except by having a different radial distribution of starlight than typical elliptical galaxies. The barred spiral companion NGC 4394 is just out of the field to the east (left).



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Last changes: 7/2006      © 2006