Messier 77, also designated NGC 1068 and known as the Squid Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus, about 35 million light-years from Earth. It was discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Mechain in 1780, who first took it for a nebula before communicating the discovery to Charles Messier, who catalogued it; both Messier and William Herschel at first described it as a star cluster, but it is now known to be a galaxy, and it ranks among the brightest Seyfert galaxies, a class marked by an unusually energetic active nucleus, visible from Earth.
Facts
Classification
Constellation Discovery Year In the Other Atlases
In Constellation
Also in Divinity Atlas: the constellation this subject lies in.
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia Foundation
2. APOD 2013 May 10, Messier 77 - NASA Science
3. Wikipedia: Messier 77 - Wikipedia
Discovery section
discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1780, who originally described it as a nebula.
Infobox
NGC 1068
Messier 77, Wikipedia - lead section, catalogue classification
Messier 77 (M77), also known as NGC 1068 or the Squid Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus.
Messier 77, Wikipedia - lead section, constellation
Messier 77 (M77), also known as NGC 1068 or the Squid Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus.
- In Group: Spiral Galaxies, infobox 'type' field: (R)SA(rs)b (NED classification, de Vaucouleurs system) filed under Spiral Galaxies
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