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M85
Messier 85
Lenticular Galaxy
| Right Ascension | 12h 25m 20s | Best Seen | 4/1-8/1 |
| Declination | 18° 11' 27" | Magnitude | 9.3 |
| Constellation | Coma Berenices | ||
Actual |
Compared to Milky Way |
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| Distance | ~ 60 million ly | -- |
| Actual Brightness | -- | -- |
| Diameter | 125 thousand ly | 1.25 |
| Mass | -- | -- |
| Galactic Type | S0 | -- |
What To Look For Through The Telescope
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Recommended eyepiece: 40mm or 80 mm.
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When people look through the telescope they should see a fuzzy patch of light. This is the galaxy. If they are having trouble seeing it, have them look at a star near the edge of the field, then look back to the center out of the corner of their eye.
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The view through the telescope will not look like photographs of galaxies they may have seen. A photograph of a galaxy may have an exposure of many hours. This long exposure brings out the galaxy’s details. Our eyes allow light to collect for only about 1/30 of a second before they refresh themselves and start over again.
M85 Information
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M85 is actually a lenticular galaxy, not an elliptical galaxy. Lenticular galaxies are very easy to mistake for an elliptical galaxy, especially if the lenticular is somewhat face-on.
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M85 is the most northern member of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, and so it actually is in the constellation Coma Berenices.
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References
| Item | Updated | Notes |
| Coordinates | 2002-08-14 | just “tweaked” a bit |
| Distance | 2002-08-14 | http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m085.html |
| Actual Brightness | -- | |
| Diameter | 2002-08-14 | http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m085.html |
| Mass | 2002-08-14 | previous: 100 billion suns – BUT can find no info to support this |
| Galactic Type | 2002-08-14 | see Other, Item 1 |
| Other | 2002-08-14 | Item 1: learned this at both SIMBAD and http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m085.html |