M85

M85 is 9th magnitude lenticular galaxy in Coma Berenices about 7 minutes of arc in diameter, although the outermost portions of this object are much fainter and do not show up except in long exposure photos. This galaxy is the northernmost member of the Virgo Cluster and is just a bit larger in the sky than its twin, M84, another lenticular in Virgo. Lying about 60 million light years from Earth, M85 consists of old yellow stars and is physically large as well, being about 25% larger than our Milky Way, which explains the brightness factor despite the great distance. The smaller 11th magnitude barred spiral to the lower right in my photo is NGC 4394, which is about the same distance from Earth and is therefor likely to be gravitationally bound to M85. In 1960, a supernova type I appeared in M85, which reached 12th magnitude.

Image taken Feb. 24th, 2012, with the C-14 operationg at F:3.5 and the ST-8 camera binned 2 X 2. 450 seconds exposure.