Type

Supermassive

Location

in the constellation Ursa Major

Finder Chart

Distance

24 million light-years (7.5 megaparsecs)

Mass

36 million to 45 million times the mass of the Sun

Size

Diameter roughly equal to the size of Earth's orbit around the Sun

Discovery Methods

• Measuring the motions of gas

Lanes of dark dust form a spiral pattern in this Hubble image of the nucleus of NGC 2787. [NASA/Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)]

This document was last modified: January 23, 2006.