Celestial Objects
Messier 61
Galaxies
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Messier 61, also known as M61 or NGC 4303, is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo and a member of the Virgo Cluster, discovered by the Italian astronomer Barnaba Oriani in 1779, with Charles Messier independently observing it just days later and briefly mistaking it for a comet. It lies roughly 52 to 55 million light-years from Earth and has one of the higher rates of observed supernovae of any known galaxy, with several recorded within it since the nineteenth century.
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