Alternate Names

NGC 4258

Type

Supermassive

Location

in the constellation Canes Venatici

Finder Chart

Distance

24 million light-years

Mass

24 million to 38 million times the mass of the Sun

Size

Greater than the distance from Earth to the Sun

Discovery Methods

• Measuring the motions of gas
• Measuring the motions of stars

M106

An artist's concept shows the warped accretion disk around the central black hole in M106. The side of the disk colored red is moving toward us, while the blue side is moving away from us. Jets of high-energy particles shoot out from the poles of the central black hole.

An optical view of M106. Big clusters of stars along the galaxy's spiral arms glow pink and red. The galaxy spans about 30,000 light-years.

This multiwavelength view of M106 shows an extra set of spiral arms that is not visible through optical wavelengths. The arms, revealed by X-rays and shown in blue, are tilted about 120 degrees with respect to the galaxy's disk.

An ultraviolet view of M106 from the Galex satellite. Blue indicates hotter stars, while yellow is from older stars and clouds of dust.

This document was last modified: January 10, 2011.