Messier 59, NGC 4621

Messier 59 (also known as NGC 4621) is an elliptical galaxy in Virgo.

M 59 was discovered along with M 60, by Johann Gottfried Koehler of Dresden in April of 1779, while he was observing a new comet. Messier saw both galaxies four days later, while observing the same comet, and in addition the nearby M 58, which Koehler missed.

M 59 is about 1° southeast of M 58. In larger telescopes the halo of M 59 appears very bright, at magnitude 9.6, and is elongated with dimensions of 5' x 3.5' northwest to southeast. It brightens smoothly toward the center and has a stellar nucleus.

Messier 59 is a member of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, although considerably less massive and luminous than the nearby giant ellipticals M 49, M 60, and M 87. Assuming a distance of 65 million light years, Messier 59 has an absolute magnitude of -21.9, or a luminosity of 44 billion suns. It is moving away from us at 410 km/sec.

At the assumed distance, M 59's observed major axis corresponds to a linear size of 90,000 light years. Its larger axis is estimated to be about twice as long as the shorter axis. M 59 is surrounded by a system of about 2000 globular clusters - an order of magnitude more than those found around the Milky Way, but many fewer than its giant elliptical neighbors.