Messier 87
Where is Messier 87?
Below the horizon after dark tonight in Virgo. Rises 05:26.
- Rises
- 05:26
- Highest
- 12:36
- Sets
- 19:42
- Best after dark
- —
Can I see Messier 87 tonight?
From London tonight, Messier 87 isn’t above the horizon while the sky is dark. It rises at 05:26 and sets at 19:42, in daylight or twilight.
At magnitude 9.0, with its light spread out, it needs a telescope and a dark sky.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does Messier 87 look like?
Eyes
Not visible.
Binoculars
Under dark skies, a faint, round smudge among other Virgo galaxies.
Telescope
A round glow with a bright center, like a faint globular cluster that won’t resolve. The jet is a very difficult target for large telescopes. The black hole itself can’t be seen with any backyard telescope.
About Messier 87
M87 is a giant elliptical galaxy near the center of the Virgo Cluster, about 55 million light-years away. It is one of the most massive galaxies in our part of the universe.
At its heart lies M87*, a supermassive black hole about 6.5 billion times the mass of the Sun. In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration released the first image of a black hole’s shadow, and it was this one.
The black hole powers a jet of particles that streams out of the galaxy for thousands of light-years. M87 also has many thousands of globular clusters orbiting it.
M87 was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. Its jet was first noticed in 1918 by Heber Curtis, who described it as a curious straight ray.
Like many large elliptical galaxies, M87 has little gas and few new stars; most of its stars are old.
Nearby in the sky
Questions
Can I see the black hole in M87?
What is the Virgo Cluster?
Sources: OpenNGC (CC BY-SA 4.0); star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences