Messier 64 - The Black Eye Galaxy

By tammy-plotner - January 1, 2018 at 3:00 PM UTC | Extragalactic
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Welcome back to Messier Monday! Today, we continue in our tribute to our dear friend, Tammy Plotner, by looking at that "evil" customer known as Messier 64 - aka. the "Black Eye Galaxy"!

In the 18th century, while searching the night sky for comets, French astronomer Charles Messier kept noting the presence of fixed, diffuse objects he initially mistook for comets. In time, he would come to compile a list of approximately 100 of these objects, hoping to prevent other astronomers from making the same mistake. This list – known as the

Messier Catalog

– would go on to become one of the most influential catalogs of Deep Sky Objects.

One of these objects is known as Messier 64, which is also known as the "Black Eye" or "Evil Eye Galaxy". Located in the

Coma Berenices constellation

, roughly 24 million light-years from Earth, this spiral galaxy is famous for the dark band of absorbing dust that lies in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus (relative to Earth). Messier 64 is well known among amateur astronomers because it is discernible with small telescopes.

Description:

Residing about 19 million light years from our home galaxy, the "Sleeping Beauty" extends across space covering an area nearly 40,000 light years across, spinning around at a speed of 300 kilometers per second. Toward its core is a counter-rotating disc approximate 4,000 light years wide and the friction between these two may very well be the contributing factor to the huge amounts of starburst activity and distinctive dark dust lane.

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Infrared image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, which penetrated the dust clouds swirling around the centers of the M64 galaxy. Credits: Torsten Boeker, Space Telescope Science Institute and NASA/ESA

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Stars themselves appear to be forming in two waves, first evolving outside following the density gradient where abundant interstellar matter was waiting, and then evolving slowly. As the material from the mature stars began beig pushed back by their stellar winds, supernovae, and planetary nebulae, increased amounts of interstellar matter once again compressed, beginning the process of star formation again. This "second wave" may very well be represented by the dark, obscuring dust lane we see.

But, M64 isn't without it share of turmoil. Its dual rotation may have started as a collision when two galaxies merged some billion years ago - or so theory would suggest. But did it? As Robert Braun and Rene Walterbos explained in their

1995 study

:

So is all what it really appears to be? Are new stars being born in the darkness? As A. Majeed (et al) indicated in their

1999 study

:

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Messier 64 ("Black Eye Galaxy") imaged using amateur telescope. Credit: Jeff Johnson.

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But the debate is still on. As R.A. Walterbos (et al) expressed in their

1993 study

:

History of Observation:

M64 was discovered by Edward Pigott on March 23, 1779, just 12 days before Johann Elert Bode found it independently on April 4, 1779. Roughly a year later, Charles Messier independently rediscovered it on March 1, 1780 and cataloged it as M64. Said Pigot:

However, Pigott's discovery got published only when read before the Royal Society in London on January 11, 1781, while Bode's was published during 1779 and Messier's in late summer, 1780. Pigott's discovery was more or less ignored and recovered only by Bryn Jones in April 2002! (May the good Mr. Pigot know that he was remembered here and his reports placed first!!)

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Messier 64, the Black Eye Galaxy. Credit: Miodrag Sekulic

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So how did it get the name "Black Eye Galaxy"? We have Sir William Herschel to thank for that: "A very remarkable object, much elongated, about 12' long, 4' or 5' broad, contains one lucid spot like a star with a small black arch under it, so that it gives one the idea of what is called a black eye, arising from fighting." Of course, John Herschel perpetuated it when he wrote in his own notes:

Locating Messier 64:

Locating M64 isn't particularly easy. Begin by identifying bright orange Arcturus and the Coma Berenices star cluster (Melotte 111) about a hand span to the general west. As you relax and let your eyes dark adapt, you will see the three stars that comprise the constellation of Coma Berenices, but if you live under light polluted skies, you may need binoculars to find its faint stars. Once you have confirmed Alpha Comae, star hop approximately 4 degrees north/northwest to 35 Comae. You will find M64 around a degree to the northeast of star 35.

While Messier 64 is binocular possible, it will require very dark skies for average binoculars and will only show as a very small, oval contrast change. However, in telescopes as small as 102mm, its distinctive markings can be seen on dark nights with good clarity. Don't fight over it... There's plenty of dark dustlane in this Sleeping Beauty to go around!

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The location of Messier 64 in the Coma Berenices constellation. Credit: IAU/Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)

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And here are the quick facts on this Messier Object to help you get started:

Object Name

Messier 64

Alternative Designations

M64, NGC 4826, The Black Eye Galaxy, Sleeping Beauty Galaxy, Evil Eye Galaxy

Object Type

Type Sb Spiral Galaxy

Constellation

:

Coma Berenices

Right Ascension

12 : 56.7 (h:m)

Declination

+21 : 41 (deg:m)

Distance

19000 (kly)

Visual Brightness

8.5 (mag)

Apparent Dimension

9.3x5.4 (arc min)

We have written many interesting articles about Messier Objects here at Universe Today. Here's Tammy Plotner's

Introduction to the Messier Objects

,

M1 – The Crab Nebula

, and David Dickison's articles on the

2013

and

2014

Messier Marathons.

Be to sure to check out our complete

Messier Catalog

. And for more information, check out the

SEDS Messier Database

.

Sources: