Celestial Objects

Messier 88

Galaxies

Citation Formats

General Reference

Space and Astronomy Atlas. "Messier 88." Accessed September 2, 2026. https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/celestial-objects/messier-88.

APA Style

Space and Astronomy Atlas. (n.d.). Messier 88. Retrieved September 2, 2026, from https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/celestial-objects/messier-88

BibTeX

@misc{spaceandastronomyatlas-messier-88,
  author = {Space and Astronomy Atlas},
  title = {Messier 88},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/celestial-objects/messier-88},
  note = {Accessed September 2, 2026}
}

Messier 88, also known as M88 or NGC 4501, is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices and a member of the Virgo Cluster, discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. It lies roughly 47 to 60 million light-years from Earth and shows well-defined spiral arms despite its location within the dense Virgo Cluster environment, along with an active galactic nucleus at its center.

Comments (0)

No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.

Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)

No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.

Switch Atlas

The Inner World

The Civil World

The Natural World