From the National Optical Astronomical Observatories
M98, a nearly edge-on type Sb spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, contains a great deal of dust, which reddens the light of the small but bright central nucleus: some new star formation regions show up as blue knots. In astronomical parlance, "reddening" makes the nucleus appear noticeably orange. M98 is a member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, which is the dominant cluster in our Local Supercluster and about 60 million light years away. The Virgo cluster also includes Messier galaxies M49, M58, M59, M60, M61, M84, M85, M86, M87, M88, M89, M90, M91, M99, and M100. This picture was taken in February 1996 at the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope.
Image Title: M98, NGC4192
Credit: AURA/NOAO/NSF
Text based on accompanying on-line materials.
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Last Modified On: Monday, May 11, 2001