Alternate Names

NGC 1068

Type

Supermassive

Location

in the constellation Cetus

Finder Chart

Distance

50 million to 60 million light-years (15-18 megaparsecs)

Mass

15 million times the mass of the Sun

Size

Slightly smaller than Mercury's orbit around the Sun

Discovery Methods

• Measuring the motions of gas

Spiral arms heavy with lanes of dark dust wrap around the bright core of M77 in this ground-based image. [ING Archive/Nik Szymanek/Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes]

This document was last modified: February 1, 2006.