Black Eye Galaxy

a galaxy M 64 · NGC 4826 Coma Berenices 8.5ᵐ

A dark band of dust in front of the nucleus is what gives the Black Eye its name. The inner part of the galaxy rotates one way and the outer part the other: the mark of an ancient merger.

Where to look

Data

Type
a galaxy
Constellation
Coma Berenices
Magnitude
8.5
Apparent size
9.3 
Distance
24.0 million light years

An estimate. NGC 2000.0 carries no distances, and published measurements disagree by up to a third.

Right ascension
194.175 °
Declination
21.683 °
Designations
M 64 · NGC 4826
NGC description
! vB, vL, vmE 120deg +/- , bMSBN; = M64

The Messier list and the NGC/IC designations come from NGC 2000.0 (Sinnott, 1988), CDS Strasbourg.

Nearby in the same constellation

Designations Type Magnitude Apparent size
M53 · M 53 a globular cluster 7.7 12.6′
M85 · M 85 a galaxy 9.2 7.1′
M100 · M 100 a galaxy 9.4 6.9′
M88 · M 88 a galaxy 9.5 6.9′
M99 · M 99 a galaxy 9.8 5.4′
M98 · M 98 a galaxy 10.1 9.5′
M91 · M 91 a galaxy 10.2 5.4′