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

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. [N.A.Sharp/EU program/NOAO/AURA/NSF]

This document was last modified: June 11, 2010.