M60
NGC 4649
Elliptical
物性
位置と識別子
可視性
設定で観測地を設定 すると可視性データが表示されます。
サーベイ画像
サーベイ画像を読み込み中…
M60について
説明
M60 is one of the largest giant elliptical galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, about 55 million light-years from Earth. It spans roughly 120,000 light-years and contains about 400 billion stars. M60 harbors one of the most massive black holes measured in any galaxy — estimated at 4.5 billion solar masses, over 1,000 times more massive than the Milky Way's central black hole.
観測のコツ
Located at the eastern edge of the main Virgo Cluster chain, forming a close pair with NGC 4647 (a spiral galaxy just 2.5 arcminutes away). A telescope shows a bright, round glow with a brilliant core. NGC 4647 appears as a faint smudge adjacent to M60, and the pair is a rewarding sight in 8-inch or larger telescopes. Best observed from March through June.
歴史
Discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler on April 11, 1779. Charles Messier cataloged it on April 15, 1779. The galaxy has hosted two supernovae: SN 2004W and the unusual Type Ia SN 2005Q.
豆知識
M60's central black hole (4.5 billion solar masses) is one of the most massive known. The galaxy also hosts a remarkable ultra-compact dwarf galaxy (M60-UCD1) orbiting it, which itself contains a 21-million-solar-mass black hole — the densest galaxy known, packing 200 million solar masses into a region only 160 light-years across.
コミュニティ写真 (1)
Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC, and J. Strader (Michigan State University). License: Public domain. (Wikimedia Commons)
Skybred Feb 28, 2026