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Date: April 24, 2026 - Location: Dark Sky Observatory, Davis Mountains, TX Telescope: 16 inch RC Mount: Paramount MEII Camera: FLI 16803 Exposure: LRGB = 15x300 sec each filter - Bin 1x1 Click on the image below to view at higher resolution. |
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Note: This image is oriented with north to the top and east to the left.
M58 (Messier 58 / NGC 4579) is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo approximately 62 million light-years from Earth[2,4]. Discovered by Charles Messier on April 15, 1779, M58 is among the most distant objects in the Messier Catalog[1,2]. It is also one of the brighter spiral galaxies in the Virgo Cluster[2,4]. Although the nucleus and central bar of M58 appears exceptionally bright in this image, its central bulge is somewhat less prominent than those of many comparable barred spiral galaxies[3]. Nevertheless, M58 hosts ongoing star formation in its central region[3] and contains a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of approximately 70 million solar masses[1]. The spiral arms extending outward from the nucleus are relatively deficient in hydrogen gas, limiting star formation throughout much of the disk[3]. This depletion may be the result of gravitational interactions with other members of the Virgo Cluster[3].
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