Messier 86 (also known as M86 or NGC 4406) is an

elliptical Elliptical may mean: * having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape ** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape ** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform * characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by conc ...

or lenticular galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. M86 lies in the heart of the

Virgo Cluster of galaxies The Virgo Cluster is a large cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly (16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc) away in the constellation Virgo. Comprising approximately 1,300 (and possibly up to 2,000) member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the lar ...

and forms a most conspicuous group with another large galaxy known as

Messier 84 Messier 84 or M84, also known as NGC 4374, is a giant elliptical or lenticular galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Charles Messier discovered the object in 1781 in a systematic search for "nebulous objects" in the night sky. It is the 84th object ...

. It displays the highest

blue shift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in fr ...

of all Messier objects, as it is, net of its other vectors of travel, approaching the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

at 244 km/s. This is due to both galaxies falling roughly towards the center of the Virgo cluster from opposing ends. Messier 86 is linked by several filaments of ionized gas to the severely disrupted

spiral galaxy Spiral galaxies form a class of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work ''The Realm of the Nebulae''NGC 4438 The Eyes Galaxies (NGC 4435-NGC 4438, also known as Arp 120) are a pair of galaxies about 52 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The pair are members of the string of galaxies known as Markarian's Chain. NGC 4435 NGC 4435 ...

, indicating that M86 may have stripped some gas and

interstellar dust Cosmic dust, also called extraterrestrial dust, star dust or space dust, is dust which exists in outer space, or has fallen on Earth. Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and 0.1 mm (100 micrometers). Larger particles are c ...

from the spiral. It is also suffering ram-pressure stripping as it moves at high speed through Virgo's intracluster medium, losing its

interstellar medium In astronomy, the interstellar medium is the matter and radiation that exist in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as dust and cosmic rays. It fills interstella ...

and leaving behind a very long trail of

X ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 ...

-emitting hot gas that has been detected with the help of the

Chandra Chandra ( sa, चन्द्र, Candra, shining' or 'moon), also known as Soma ( sa, सोम), is the Hindu god of the Moon, and is associated with the night, plants and vegetation. He is one of the Navagraha (nine planets of Hinduism) and ...

space telescope. Messier 86 has a rich array of globular clusters, with a total number of around 3,800. Its halo also has a number of

stellar streams This is a list of stellar streams. A stellar stream is an association of stars orbiting a galaxy that was once a globular cluster or dwarf galaxy that has now been torn apart and stretched out along its orbit by tidal forces. An exception in the ...

interpreted as remnants of dwarf galaxies that have been disrupted and absorbed by this galaxy. __NOTOC__

References

External links

SEDS Lenticular Galaxy M86
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Messier 086 Lenticular galaxies Virgo Cluster Virgo (constellation) 086 NGC objects 07532 40653 Astronomical objects discovered in 1781 Discoveries by Charles Messier

See also

References

External links