Charles Messier discovered Messier 58, along with the elliptical galaxiesMessier 59 and Messier 60, on April 15, 1779.[14] M58 was reported on the chart of the Comet of 1779 as it was almost on the same parallel as the star Epsilon Virginis.[11][19] Messier described M58 as a very faint nebula in Virgo which would disappear in the slightest amount of light he used to illuminate the micrometer wires.[11][20] This description was later contradicted by John Herschel's observations in 1833 where he described it as a very bright galaxy, especially towards the middle. Herschel's observations were also similar to the descriptions of both John Dreyer and William Henry Smyth who said that M58 was a bright galaxy, mottled, irregularly round and very much brighter toward the middle.[11]
Characteristics
Like many other spiral galaxies of the Virgo Cluster (e.g. Messier 90), Messier 58 is an anemic galaxy with low star formation activity concentrated within the galaxy's optical disk,[21] and relatively little neutral hydrogen, also located inside its disk, concentrated in clumps,[22] compared with other galaxies of similar morphological type. This deficiency of gas is believed to be caused by interactions with Virgo's intracluster medium.
Messier 58 has a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus, where a starburst may be present[23] as well as a supermassive black hole with a mass of around 70 million solar masses.[24] It is also one of the very few galaxies known to possess a UCNR (ultra-compact nuclear ring), a series of star-forming regions located in a very small ring around the center of the galaxy.[25] This led to its being dubbed the "ring bearer galaxy" by the popular astronomy YouTube program "Deep Sky videos".[18]
^Sinnott, R. W., ed. (1988). The Complete New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters by J. L. E. Dreyer. Sky Publishing Corporation and Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-933346-51-2.
^
Comerón, S.; Knapen, J. H.; Beckman, J. E. (2008). "Discovery of Four New Ultra-compact Nuclear Rings in Three Spiral Galaxies". Pathways Through an Eclectic Universe. ASP Conference Series. Vol. 390. p. 172. Bibcode:2008ASPC..390..172C.
^"List of Supernovae". IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Messier 58.