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M106
Messier 106
Spiral Galaxy
| Right Ascension | 12h 18m 58s | Best Seen | 3/15-9/15 |
| Declination | 47° 18' 14" | Magnitude | 8.4 |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici | ||
Actual |
Compared to Milky Way |
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| Distance | 21 - 25 million ly | -- |
| Actual Brightness | -- | -- |
| Diameter | 30,000 ly | 0.3 |
| Mass | ~? trillion suns | -- |
| Galactic Type | Sb | Sbc |
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 be like the photographs they may have seen. A photograph of a galaxy may have an exposure of many hours. This long exposure brings out spiral arms and other details. Our eyes allow the light to collect for only about 1/30 of a second before they refresh themselves and start over again.
M106 Information
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This galaxy was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781.
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Shown in photographs, the ends of the spiral arms are bright blue, indicating new, blue stars are found there.
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References
| Item | Updated | Notes |
| Coordinates | 2003-01-13 | tweaked a bit |
| Distance | 2003-01-13 | OK with http://messier.seds.org/m/m106.html |
| Actual Brightness | -- | |
| Diameter | 2003-01-15 | ?!!? previously said 510 thousand ly – BUT APOD says 30 thousand!!! http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000215.html |
| Mass | -- | |
| Galactic Type | 2003-01-13 | OK with SIMBAD, SEDs |
| Other Information | -- |