Category: galaxy

Messier 66, a color view

Messier 66 in Leo: a colour view

Looking at the sky and its depths, one is impressed by the unmatched beauty she/he meets up there. But some objects “shines” with their special charm. Among them, Messier 66. Placed at about 35...

NGC 5866, Messier 102?

NGC 5866: Messier 102?

As soon as everyone starts learning about the sky and its most beautiful objects, she/he learn about the Messier catalogue. This very famous list includes more than one hundred deep sky gems including galaxies,...

Supernova SN 2013am in Messier 65

Supernova SN 2013am in Messier 65

On 21.637 Mar. 2013, M. Sugano, Kakogawa, Hyogo-ken, Japan reported the discovery of an apparent supernova in Messier M65. The candidate was published on the Transient Object Confirmation Page of the Central Bureau for...

Messier 66, imaged with the 17" robotic unit

Messier 66: a new, deep image

When it started operations early in 2011, the PlaneWave 17″ robotic unit, part of the Virtual Telescope Project imaged Messier 66,  a very nice spiral  galaxy, about 36 millions of light years from us and...

NGC 2903

NGC 2903 – Leo

From a distance of almost 30 millions of light year, lurking among the stars of Leo, the elegance of the barred spiral of NGC 2903 is astonishing. The central core of this realm of...

M 77

M 77 – Cetus

Messier 77 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and it is a peculiar galaxy in the constellation of Cetus, the Whale. Located at about 50 millions of light years, it is classified as hosting an...

NGC 925

NGC 925 – Tri

Relatively neglected despite its beauty, NGC 925 is barred spiral galaxy, located in the Triangulum constellation, at about 31 millions of light years from us. The distance is known quite well, thanks to the...

Messier 74

M74 – Psc

Messier 74 is a gorgeous galaxy in Pisces, showing an almost perfect spiral structure. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780. Because of its low surface brightness, it is one of the Messier...

Supernova SN 2011dh in Messier 51

On 31 may 2011, several observers discovered SN 2011dh in Messier 51, the well-known “Whirlpool” galaxy. It was the third object of this kind found in this galaxy since 1994. A few days later,...

NGC 891

NGC 891 – And

  Floating in space at about 30 millions of light years from us,  NGC 891 is superb edge-on spiral galaxy, discovered in 1784 by W. Herschel. Dust across the disk is clearly apparent in...

The Stephan's Quintet

The Stephan’s Quintet – Peg

  The famous Stephan’s Quintet was the first compact group of galaxies ever discovered and was spotted by Édouard Jean-Marie Stephan in 1877. It is probably the most studied group of its kind and...

NGC 7331

NGC 7331 – Peg

Located at about 40 millions of light years, NGC 7331 is a beautiful, almost edge-on spiral galaxy, in Pegasus. It is the largest member of the so-called Deer Lick Group. It was discovered in...