M 61 Deep sky · Galaxy in Virgo · M 61 · NGC 4303
Swelling Spiral Galaxy
A face-on spiral galaxy in Virgo, where astronomers have watched more supernovae than in almost any other galaxy.
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- Type
- Galaxy
- Designations
- M 61 · NGC 4303
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Apparent magnitude
- 9.7
- Apparent size
- 7′ × 6′
- Position (J2000)
- RA 12h 22m · Dec +04° 28′
The full Moon, about 31′ across, is 4.8 times as wide. The Sun passes 6° from it around late September, and for about 28 days of the year it sits within 15° of the Sun, lost in its glare.
When to see it
On the night of Thu 25 Mar 2027, when it is highest around midnight, on each city’s own clock:
| From | Rises | Highest | Sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| London GMT | 17:50 | 00:10 · 43° | 06:31 |
| New York EDT | 18:51 | 01:05 · 54° | 07:19 |
| Singapore GMT+8 | 19:16 | 01:16 · 87° | 07:15 |
| Sydney GMT+11 | 19:19 | 01:07 · 52° | 06:54 |
Common questions
- Can I see it from 50° north?
- Yes. It rises and sets, and at its highest it stands 44° up in the south.
- Can I see it from 35° south?
- Yes. It rises and sets, and at its highest it stands 51° up in the north.
- When is the best time of year to see it?
- Around late March, when it stands opposite the Sun and is highest at midnight. It comes round about two hours earlier each month, so by late June it is highest in the early evening, and in late December not until the hours before dawn.
- How bright is it?
- Magnitude 9.7 in total, but that light is spread over 7′ × 6′ of sky: on average 22.2 magnitudes per square arcsecond. Against a dark country sky that average stands out; a city’s glow drowns all but its brightest parts.
- Naked eye, binoculars or telescope?
- Binoculars. At magnitude 9.7 it is past the eye, but a 50 mm pair under a dark sky reaches about magnitude 11.0.
Look for
It lies at the southern edge of the Virgo Cluster, north-west of Porrima. A small telescope shows a round glow with a bright centre.
Look for
From 50° north it climbs to 44°; from 35° north it climbs to 59°; from the equator it climbs to 86°; from 35° south it climbs to 51°.
Look for
Magnitude 9.7 against the faintest star each can show: the eye under a city sky, 4.5 (5.2 short); the eye under a dark country sky, 7.0 (2.7 short); 50 mm binoculars under that dark sky, 11.0 (1.4 to spare); a 100 mm telescope there, 12.5 (2.9 to spare). Those limits are for a point of light; its light is spread over its whole size, so it needs some of that margin in hand. Through 7×50 binoculars, whose field is about 7.1° across, it spans 2% of the field’s width; through a 100 mm telescope at 50×, a field about 1° across, it spans 11% of the field’s width.