M 74

Spiral Galaxy M74 (NGC 628), type Sc,

in Pisces

Right Ascension	01 : 36.7 (h:m)
Declination	+15 : 47 (deg:m)
Distance	35000 (kly)
Visual Brightness	9.4 (mag)
Apparent Dimension	10.2×9.5 (arc min)

Nearby Galaxies

Catalog has 32), as it recedes with 793 km/sec. Then its spiral arms are

about 1000 light years broad. They are traced with clusters of

blue young stars in color photos, and reach out to cover a region of more

than 10 minutes of arc in diameter, corresponding to roughly 95,000 light

years, or about the same size as our

Milky Way galaxy.

The nucleus is small and bright.

M74 is probably the chief member of a very small physical group of galaxies,

which includes the peculiar SBa barred spiral NGC 660, the peculiar Sm galaxy

UGC 891 (of a mixed type between spirals and irregulars),

and the irregulars UGC 1176, UGC 1195, and UGCA 20.

• UIT images of M74

  from the ASTRO-1 Space Shuttle mission (STS-35)

• More images of M74
• Amateur images of M74

  For the amateur, very good conditions are needed to see more than this nucleus.

  But if they are given, suggestions of the magnificient spiral arms become

  apparent in telescopes starting at 4-inch.

  Messier marathoners often miss this

  galaxy in the evening, as it stands near the limit of the “Messier-Free Zone”

  in the sky. Only globular cluster M30 is missed more

  frequently than this galaxy.

• NED Data of M74

  
  

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  Hartmut Frommert

  ([email protected])

  Christine Kronberg

  ([email protected])

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Last Modification: 20 Nov 1997, 22:10 MET