Messier 74 (also known as NGC 628 and Phantom Galaxy) is a large
spiral galaxy
Spiral galaxies form a class of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work ''The Realm of the Nebulae''[equatorial Equatorial may refer to something related to:
*Earth's equator
**the tropics, the Earth's equatorial region
**tropical climate
*the Celestial equator
** equatorial orbit
**equatorial coordinate system
** equatorial mount, of telescopes
* equatorial ...]
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
Pisces
Pisces may refer to:
* Pisces, an obsolete (because of land vertebrates) taxonomic superclass including all fish
* Pisces (astrology), an astrological sign
* Pisces (constellation), a constellation
**Pisces Overdensity, an overdensity of stars in ...
. It is about 32 million light-years away from Earth.
The galaxy contains two clearly defined
spiral arms and is therefore used as an archetypal example of a
grand design spiral galaxy.
[
] The galaxy's low surface brightness makes it the most difficult
Messier object for amateur astronomers to observe.
[
][
] Its relatively large angular (that is, apparent) size and the galaxy's face-on orientation make it an ideal object for professional astronomers who want to study
spiral arm structure and
spiral density waves. It is estimated that M74 hosts about 100 billion stars.
Observation history
M74 was discovered by
Pierre Méchain in 1780. He then communicated his discovery to
Charles Messier, who listed the galaxy in his
catalog
Catalog or catalogue may refer to:
*Cataloging
**'emmy on the 'og
**in science and technology
***Library catalog, a catalog of books and other media
****Union catalog, a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries ...
.
![M74 Galaxy JWST MIRI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/M74_Galaxy_JWST_MIRI.jpg)
In July 2022, it was observed by the
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Spa ...
, not long after it began taking its first pictures and observations and soon astronomy image processor
Judy Schmidt made images of it available.
Structure
M74 has two spiral arms that wind counterclockwise from the galaxy's center. The spiral arms widen as they get farther from M74's center, but one of the arms narrows and the end. The arms deviate slightly from a constant angle.
Supernovae
Three
supernovae
A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when a ...
are known to have taken place within it:
[
] SN 2002ap,
[
] SN 2003gd,
[
] and
SN 2013ej
SN 2013ej is a Type II-P supernova in the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 74 (NGC 628). It was discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search on July 25, 2013, with the 0.76 m Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope, with pre-discovery images havin ...
(the numbers denote the year).
The latter was bright as 10th magnitude when viewed from the surface of Earth, so visible from almost all modern telescopes in
a good night sky.
SN 2002ap was one of few Type Ic supernovae (which denotes
hypernovae) recorded within 10
Mpc every century.
[
][
][
] This explosion has been used to test theories on the origins of others further away
and theories on the emission by supernovae of
gamma ray bursts.
SN 2003gd is a Type II-P supernova.
[
] Type II supernovae have known
luminosities
Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic power (light), the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object over time. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electromagnetic energy emitted per unit of time by a st ...
, so they can be used to accurately measure distances. The distance measured to M74 using SN 2003gd is 9.6 ± 2.8
Mpc, or 31 ± 9 million
ly.
[
] For comparison, distances measured using the brightest supergiants are 7.7 ± 1.7
Mpc and 9.6 ± 2.2
Mpc.
Ben Sugerman found a "light echo" – a later reflection of the explosion – associated with SN 2003gd.
[
] This is one of the few supernovae in which such a reflection has been found. This reflection appears to be from dust in a sheet-like cloud that lies in front of the supernova, and it can be used to determine the composition of the interstellar dust.
[
]
Galaxy group
This is the brightest member of the
M74 Group
The M74 Group (also known as the ''NGC 628 Group'') is a small group of galaxies in the constellation Pisces. The face-on spiral galaxy M74 (NGC 628) is the brightest galaxy within the group. Other members include the peculiar spiral galax ...
, a group of 5 to 7 galaxies that also includes the
peculiar spiral galaxy
Spiral galaxies form a class of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work ''The Realm of the Nebulae''[NGC 660
NGC 660 is a Peculiar galaxy, peculiar and unique polar-ring galaxy located approximately 45 million light-years from Earth in the Pisces (constellation), Pisces constellation. It is the only such galaxy having, as its host, a "late-type lenticu ...]
and a few
irregular galaxies.
[
][
][
] Different group membership identification methods (ranging from a clear, to likely, to perhaps historic gravitational tie) identify several objects of the group in common,
and a few galaxies whose exact status within such groupings is currently uncertain.
Suspected black hole
In 2005
[Chandra : Photo Album and details of observation: M74 : 22 Mar 05](_blank)
/ref> the Chandra X-ray Observatory
The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), is a Flagship-class space telescope launched aboard the during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 1 ...
announced its observation of an ultraluminous X-ray source
An ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) is an astronomical source of X-rays that is less luminous than an active galactic nucleus but is more consistently luminous than any known stellar process (over 1039 erg/s, or 1032 watts), assuming that it radiat ...
(ULX) in M74, radiating more X-ray power than a neutron star
A neutron star is the collapsed core of a massive supergiant star, which had a total mass of between 10 and 25 solar masses, possibly more if the star was especially metal-rich. Except for black holes and some hypothetical objects (e.g. white ...
, in periodic intervals of around two hours. It has an estimated mass of . This is an indicator of an intermediate-mass black hole. This would be a rather uncommon class, in between in size of stellar black holes and the massive black holes theorized to be in the center of many galaxies. Such an object is believed to form from lesser ("stellar") black holes within a star cluster. The source has been given identification number CXOU J013651.1+154547.
Amateur astronomy observation
Messier 74 is 1.5° east-northeast of Eta Piscium
Eta Piscium (η Piscium, abbreviated Eta Psc, η Psc) is a binary star and the brightest point of light in the constellation of Pisces (constellation), Pisces with an apparent visual magnitude of +3.6. Based upon a measured annual stellar ...
. This galaxy has the second-lowest Earth-surface brightness of any Messier object. ( M101 has the lowest.) It requires a good night sky. This galaxy may be best viewed under low magnification; when highly magnified, the diffuse emission becomes more extended and appears too faint to be seen by many people. Additionally, M74 may be more easily seen when using averted vision when the eyes are fully dark adapted.
See also
* List of Messier objects
* NGC 3184
NGC 3184, the Little Pinwheel Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It has two HII regions named NGC 3180 and NGC 3181.
NGC 3184 houses a high abundance of heavy elements and ...
– ''a similar face-on spiral galaxy''
* Messier 101 #REDIRECT Pinwheel Galaxy 101
Messier 101 #REDIRECT Pinwheel Galaxy 101
Messier 101 #REDIRECT Pinwheel Galaxy 101 101 may refer to:
* 101 (number), the number
* AD 101, a year in the 2nd century AD
* 101 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC
It ma ...
– ''a similar face-on spiral galaxy''
* Whirlpool Galaxy – ''a well-known face-on spiral galaxy''
References and footnotes
External links
*
Spiral Galaxy M74 @ SEDS Messier pages
*
{{Sky, 01, 36, 41.8, +, 15, 47, 01, 30000000
Unbarred spiral galaxies
Messier 074
Messier 074
074
Messier 074
01149
05974
Astronomical objects discovered in 1780