Shortly:
- Format: DIN A2 (420 x 594 mm)
- Material: 250 g glossy quality print
- A MUST for space lovers!
Decorative print of an image from the Hubble telescope. ©NASA
Messier 106 or NGC 4258 is a spiral galaxy with dimensions 18'.6 × 7'.2 and apparent magnitude 8.3 in the constellation Canes Venatici.
M106 is a galaxy assigned the type Sbp in the Hubble sequence, where p stands for peculiar. Some authors also give the type as SABbc, i.e. between a normal spiral and a bar spiral.
At a distance of about 24 million light-years, the galaxy lies in the vicinity of several galaxy groups, of which the galaxy is listed as a member depending on the author, for example the Ursa Major group, the Coma Sculptor group, the Canes Venatici I group or the Canes Venatici II group.
The galaxy is about 135,000 light-years across. The core of the galaxy is active and has been known as a radio source since the 1950s. In 1995, Brent Tully et al. described that the center is emitting a jet that should be associated with the galaxy's massive central object, discovered the same year. This central object is probably a black hole with almost 40 million solar masses.
In its vicinity, astrophysicists observe an emission line spectrum, to which the galaxy nucleus owes its classification as a LINER type (Low Ionization Nuclear Emission-line Region).
The two spiral arms are marked by large numbers of young, massive stars that glow with a bluish light. The galaxy is currently going through what is known as a »starburst«, in which the rate of star formation is greatly increased.
M106 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in July 1781.
