M 88

This bright member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies is nicely symmetrical and of multiple-arm type. As its equatorial plane is inclined by about 30 degrees to the line of sight, its appearance resembles a bit that of the Andromeda galaxy M31, and its outline is an elongated ellipse of angular dimension between 7x4 to 8x3 arc minutes, according to different sources, corresponding to a linear diameter of about 130,000 light years. This is one of the more rewarding galaxies in the Virgo cluster for smaller instruments!

This galaxy is one of the Virgo cluster members with a considerable peculiar velocity away from us, as it is receding with about 2000 km/sec.

Right ascension	12 : 29.5 (hours : minutes)
Declination	+14 : 42 (degrees : minutes)
Distance	40000.0 (light-years*10^3)
Visual magnitude	10.2