Messier 59 (NGC 4621)
J2000 coordinates, SBF distance (50.2 Mly), magnitude 9.60, counter-rotating core, inner stellar disk, and observing guide for Messier 59 in Virgo.
Provenance-Backed Scientific Measurements
Every measurement below preserves its unit, uncertainty interval, observational method, reference epoch, quality status, and primary catalog source. See Uncertainty & Provenance for how competing measurements are handled.
| Parameter | Value | Uncertainty | Method & Epoch | Quality Status | Source Archive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated visual magnitude (V) | 9.6 mag | ± 0.1 mag | Integrated CCD aperture photometry | definitive | Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC) |
| Distance in light-years | 50200000 ly | ± 1700000 ly | HST ACS surface-brightness fluctuations (15.4 ± 0.5 Mpc) | definitive | SH0ES Local Distance Ladder Hubble Constant |
| Apparent major axis | 5.4 arcmin | ± 0.3 arcmin | Optical isophotal dimensions (5.4′ × 3.7′) | definitive | Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC) |
| Heliocentric recession velocity | 467 km/s | ± 5 km/s | Optical stellar absorption spectroscopy | definitive | SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) |
J2000 Equatorial Sky Chart & Culmination Altitude
The chart below plots Messier 59 (NGC 4621 E5 Elliptical Galaxy) at RA 12h 42m 02.30s, Dec +11° 38′ 48.9″ within Virgo, alongside peak meridian transit altitudes for 40°N and 30°S observers. Use the RA/Dec Coordinate Converter to compute exact culmination altitude for your latitude.
Astrophysical Context & Structure
Johann Gottfried Koehler discovered Messier 59 (NGC 4621) alongside neighboring M60 on April 11, 1779, while tracking the comet of 1779, just four days before Charles Messier independently logged both galaxies. Located 50.2 million light-years away near the eastern edge of the Virgo Cluster, M59 is one of the most strongly flattened large elliptical galaxies in the Messier catalog, exhibiting a classic E5 axial ratio of roughly 3:2 oriented along position angle 165°.
Hubble Space Telescope imaging and integral-field stellar kinematics have revealed that M59 is far more structurally complex than a simple featureless spheroid. Embedded inside its central few hundred light-years is a razor-thin, edge-on stellar disk alongside a kinematically decoupled core roughly 200 light-years wide that counter-rotates in the opposite direction to the rest of the galaxy—a dynamical fossil left behind by an ancient minor galaxy merger.
At the center of that counter-rotating core lurks a supermassive black hole of 270 to 400 million solar masses whose faint radio and X-ray emission shows it is accreting at an extremely sub-Eddington rate, while the outer halo of M59 is surrounded by ~2,200 globular clusters and the ultra-compact dwarf galaxy M59-UCD3.
Practical Visual Observing Guide
- Sits just 25 arcminutes west-northwest of bright M60, allowing both galaxies to share the same medium-power eyepiece field (50×–90×).
- In a 100–150 mm telescope, M59 is noticeably smaller and more elongated (nearly north-south, PA 165°) than round M60.
- A 200 mm+ scope at 120×–180× highlights its pointed lenticular-like tips and sharp stellar nucleus, with the 12.2-mag edge-on galaxy NGC 4638 visible midway between M59 and M60.
Catalog Cross-Identifications & Aliases
Common Aliases: M59 · NGC 4621 · UGC 7858 · PGC 42628
| Catalog Authority | Identifier |
|---|---|
| MESSIER | M 59 |
| NGC | NGC 4621 |
| SIMBAD | M 59 |
| WIKIDATA | Q13976 |
Related Objects, Comparisons & Guides
Messier 60 (NGC 4649 Giant Elliptical Pair)
J2000 coordinates, SBF distance (54.8 Mly), magnitude 8.80, 4.5-billion-M☉ black hole, NGC 4647 companion, and observing guide for Messier 60.
Messier 58 (NGC 4579 Barred Spiral in Virgo)
J2000 coordinates, Tully-Fisher distance (62.0 Mly), magnitude 9.65, anemic spiral disk, LINER/Seyfert core, and observing guide for Messier 58.
Messier 87 (Virgo A Giant Elliptical Galaxy)
Coordinates, distance (16.4 Mpc / 53.5 Mly), EHT 6.5-billion M☉ black hole M87*, relativistic jet, and observing guide for Messier 87.
Angular Size, Separation & Field of View
How angular diameter (degrees, arcminutes, arcseconds), spherical angular separation, and small-angle physical diameter relate to telescope field of view.
Apparent vs Absolute Magnitude Explained
Understand the logarithmic Pogson astronomical magnitude scale, apparent visual magnitude (m), absolute magnitude (M at 10 parsecs), and bolometric corrections.
Scientific Sources & Dataset Provenance
- Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC) (2024/2026 edition): Steinicke, W. 2010, Observing and Cataloguing Nebulae and Star Clusters (Cambridge Univ. Press); Verga, M. OpenNGC (CC-BY-SA 4.0 / data tables) — Wolfgang Steinicke / OpenNGC
- SH0ES Local Distance Ladder Hubble Constant (2022 Baseline Cepheid + SN Ia): Riess, A. G., et al. 2022, ApJL, 934, L7 (A Comprehensive Measurement of the Local Value of the Hubble Constant) — SH0ES Collaboration (HST / JWST)
- SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) (2026-10 release): Wenger, M., et al. 2000, A&AS, 143, 9 (The SIMBAD astronomical database) — Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg