M64
Messier 64 (M64) (NGC 4826) or the Black Eye Galaxy, well known among amateur astronomers because of its appearance in small telescopes, is a pinwheel-shaped spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices (Berenice's Hair). The Black Eye Galaxy is 17 million light-years (5.2 Megaparsecs) from Earth. It has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus, giving rise to its nicknames of the "Black Eye" or "Evil Eye" galaxy. The French astronomer Messier included it in his famous catalogue of celestial objects.
At first glance, M64 seems to be a fairly normal pinwheel-shaped spiral galaxy. As in the majority of galaxies, all of the stars in M64 are rotating in the same direction, clockwise as seen in the Hubble image.
However, recent detailed studies have led to the remarkable discovery that the interstellar gas in the outer regions of M64 rotates in the opposite direction from the gas and stars in the inner regions.
A collision of two galaxies has left a merged star system with an unusual appearance as well as bizarre internal motions. Astronomers believe that the oppositely rotating gas arose when M64 absorbed a satellite galaxy that collided with it, perhaps more than one billion years ago. Active formation of new stars is occurring in the shear region where the oppositely rotating gases collide, are compressed, and contract.
Particularly noticeable in the image are hot, blue young stars that have just formed, along with pink clouds of glowing hydrogen gas that fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet light from newly formed stars.
The small galaxy that impinged on its neighbour has now been almost completely destroyed, its stars either merged with the main galaxy or scattered into space, but signs of the collision persist in the backward motion of gas at the outer edge of M64.
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Referenced By
Messier catalogue | Messier number | Messier object | Messier objects
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