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 ultraviolet view of M106 from the Galex satellite. Blue indicates hotter stars, while yellow is from older stars and clouds of dust. [NASA/JPL/Caltech]

This document was last modified: June 11, 2010.