Messier 90
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| Messier 90 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope | |
| Observation data Epoch J2000 |
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|---|---|
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Right ascension | 12h 36m 49.8s |
| Declination | +13° 09′ 46″ |
| Apparent dimension (V) | 9.5 × 4.4 moa |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 10.26 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SAB(rs)ab,LINER, Sy |
| Astrometry | |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | −235 ± 4km/s |
| Redshift | -0.000784 ± 0.000013 |
| Galactocentric velocity | −282 ± 4km/s |
| Distance | 58.7 ± 2.8 Mly (18.00 ± 0.86 Mpc) |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD |
Search M90 data
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| See also: Galaxy, List of galaxies | |
Messier 90 (also known as M90 and NGC 4569) is an intermediate spiral galaxy exhibiting a weak inner ring structure about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781.
Messier 90 is a member of the Virgo Cluster, being one of its largest and brightest spiral galaxies, with an absolute magnitude of around -22 (brighter than the Andromeda Galaxy). The galaxy is located approximately 1°.5 away from the subgroup centered on Messier 87. As a consequence of the galaxy's interaction with the intracluster medium in the Virgo Cluster, the galaxy has lost much of its interstellar medium. As a result of this process, which is referred to as ram-pressure stripping, the galaxy's interstellar medium and star formation regions appear severely truncated compared to similar galaxies outside the Virgo Cluster and there are even H II regions outside the galactic plane, as well as long (up to 80 kpcs, 260,000 light-years) tails of ionized gas that has been stripped of M90.
As stated above, the star formation in Messier 90 appears truncated. Consequently, the galaxy's spiral arms appear to be smooth and featureless, rather than knotted like galaxies with extended star formation., which justifies why this galaxy, along with NGC 4921 in the Coma Cluster has been classified as the prototype of an anemic galaxy. Some authors go even further and consider it is a passive spiral galaxy, similar to those found on galaxy clusters with high redshift.
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