The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on, unbarred, and counterclockwise spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and was communicated that year to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.
Messier 66 or M66, also known as NGC 3627, is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the southern, equatorial half of Leo. It was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier on 1 March 1780, who described it as "very long and very faint". This galaxy is a member of a small group of galaxies that includes M65 and NGC 3628, known as the Leo Triplet or the M66 Group. M65 and M66 are a common object for amateur astronomic observation, being separated by only 20′.
Messier 74 is a large spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation Pisces. It is about 32 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy contains two clearly defined spiral arms and is therefore used as an archetypal example of a grand design spiral galaxy. The galaxy's low surface brightness makes it the most difficult Messier object for amateur astronomers to observe. Its relatively large angular size and the galaxy's face-on orientation make it an ideal object for professional astronomers who want to study spiral arm structure and spiral density waves. It is estimated that M74 hosts about 100 billion stars.
Messier 84 or M84, also known as NGC 4374, is a giant elliptical or lenticular galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Charles Messier discovered the object in 1781 in a systematic search for "nebulous objects" in the night sky. It is the 84th object in the Messier Catalogue and in the heavily populated core of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, part of the local supercluster.
Messier 99 or M99, also known as NGC 4254 or St. Catherine's Wheel, is a grand design spiral galaxy in the northern constellation Coma Berenices approximately 15,000,000 parsecs from the Milky Way. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on 17 March 1781. The discovery was then reported to Charles Messier, who included the object in the Messier Catalogue of comet-like objects. It was one of the first galaxies in which a spiral pattern was seen. This pattern was first identified by Lord Rosse in the spring of 1846.
NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its distance from Earth is about 25.2 million light-years or 7.72 megaparsecs, similar to the distance of M101 in the constellation Ursa Major. Both were once considered to be part of the Local Group, but are now known to be among the dozen bright spiral galaxies near the Milky Way but beyond the confines of the Local Group. NGC 6946 lies within the Virgo Supercluster.
NGC 1637 is an isolated, non-interacting intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Eridanus, about a degree to the WNW of the star Mu Eridani. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 1 February 1786. It is located at a distance of about 9.77 ± 1.82 Mpc (31.9 ± 5.9 Mly) from the Milky Way. The galaxy is inclined at an angle of 31.1° to the line of sight from the Earth and the long axis is oriented along a position angle of 16.3°.
NGC 2715 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. It was discovered in 1871 by Alphonse Borrelly. It is an intermediate spiral galaxy that is 4.9 arcminutes wide.
NGC 4945 (also known as Caldwell 83) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Centaurus, visible near the star Xi Centauri. The galaxy was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826 and is thought to be similar to the Milky Way Galaxy, although X-ray observations show that NGC 4945 has an unusual energetic Seyfert 2 nucleus that might house a supermassive black hole. Around the nucleus of the galaxy, there is a dense disk of dust and gas, along with many dense star clusters. This object has an estimated mass of 1.4+1.4
−0.7×1011 M☉.
NGC 5005, also known as Caldwell 29, is an inclined spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. The galaxy has a relatively bright nucleus and a bright disk that contains multiple dust lanes. The galaxy's high surface brightness makes it an object that is visible to amateur astronomers using large amateur telescopes.
NGC 935 and IC 1801 are a pair of interacting galaxies within the Aries constellation. They were discovered on 18 September 1885 by Lewis Swift. NGC 935 is the northern member of the pair, and IC 1801 is the southern. Together, they are listed in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 276, as an example of interacting galaxies.
NGC 5775 is a spiral galaxy, a member of the Virgo Cluster, that lies at a distance of about 70 million light-years. Although the spiral is tilted away from us, with only a thin sliver in view, such a perspective can be advantageous for astronomers. For instance, astronomers have previously used the high inclination of this spiral to study the properties of the halo of hot gas that is visible when the galaxy is observed at X-ray wavelengths. It is a member of the NGC 5775 Group of galaxies, itself one of the Virgo III Groups strung out to the east of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies.
NGC 4790 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Virgo. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 1679 ± 24 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 80.8 ± 5.8 Mly (24.76 ± 1.77 Mpc). In addition, six non-redshift measurements give a distance of 74.75 ± 4.07 Mly (22.917 ± 1.249 Mpc). It was discovered on 25 March 1786 by German-British astronomer William Herschel.
NGC 4402 is a relatively near, edge-on spiral galaxy located around 50 million light-years from Earth. It is in the constellation of Virgo within the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It can be seen when viewing Markarian's Chain.
NGC 488 is a face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 13 December 1784. It is at a distance of about 90 million light-years away from Earth. Its diameter is estimated to be 52,6 Kpc. The galaxy has a large central bulge, and is considered a prototype galaxy with multiple spiral arms. Its arms are tightly wound. Star forming activity has been traced within the arms. The nucleus of NGC 488 has been found to be chemically decoupled, being twice as metal rich as the central bulge of the galaxy. NGC 488, with the exception of its smaller companions, that form NGC 488 group, is an isolated galaxy.
NGC 908 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It was discovered on 20 September 1786 by William Herschel. This galaxy is 56 million light years away from Earth. It is the main galaxy in the NGC 908 group, which also includes NGC 899, NGC 907, and IC 223.
NGC 7038 is an intermediate spiral galaxy located about 210 million light-years away in the constellation of Indus. Astronomer John Herschel discovered NGC 7038 on September 30, 1834.
NGC 7259 is a spiral galaxy approximately 66 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus. It was discovered by John Herschel on September 28, 1834.
NGC 4070 is an elliptical galaxy located 340 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. NGC 4070 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 27, 1785. It was rediscovered by John Herschel on April 29, 1832 and was listed as NGC 4059. The galaxy is a member of the NGC 4065 Group.
NGC 2525 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Puppis. It is located at a distance of about 70 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 2525 is about 60,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on February 23, 1791.
