Type

Supermassive

Location

In the constellation Virgo

Finder Chart

Distance

62 million light-years (19 megaparsecs)

Mass

8.5 million times the mass of the Sun

Size

Diameter about three-quarters of the distance from the Sun to Mercury

Discovery Methods

• Measuring the motions of gas

NGC 4388

An artist's concept shows a thick 'torus' of dust surrounding a supermassive black hole.

A combined visible- and infrared-light image of NGC 4388 shows big clouds of gas extending far above and below the galaxy's disk. The clouds may be the result of a collision with another galaxy or pressure from gas clouds in the Virgo Cluster, to which NGC 4388 belongs.

This document was last modified: March 14, 2012.