M61 is a magnitude 10.1 galaxy in Virgo. It has a diameter of about 60,000 light-years, and is one of the larger galaxies in the Virgo cluster. It was discovered by an Italian astronomer named B. Oriani in May 1779 while he was observing a comet. Charles Messier found it a few nights later when he was trying to find the same comet, and at first mistook it for the comet. At least three stars in M61 have exploded as supernovae over the years, including the supernovae recorded in 1926, 1961 and 1964.
This is a composite of two CCD images of 10 minutes duration each using an SBIG ST-8 CCD at prime focus on a Takahashi FS-128 refractor at f8. Guiding was accomplished with the built-in autoguider on the ST-8. The exposures were taken just before sunrise.
M61 (NGC 4303) Galaxy.
Constellation: Virgo
RA:12h 21m 50.6s Dec:+04d 28' 45"
December 17, 1998
Image by Sid Leach
Iola, Texas.
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