M58

Messier 58 is one of the four barred spiral galaxies in Messier's catalog, although it is sometimes classified as intermediate between normal and barred spirals. At visual magnitude 9.7, it is one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, which lies at a distance of about 60 million light years. M58 is one of the earliest recognized spiral galaxies, although its spiral arms, which are much fainter than its nucleus, require a telescope of about 8 inches or more to be easily seen. A supernova type II was seen in M58 ion 1988 and a supernova type I was observed in 1989.

Taken March 20, 2012, with the C-14 operating at F:3.5 and the ST-8 camera binned 2 X 2. Exposure was 2 minutes.