M98

Messier 98 is one of the faintest objects in Messier's catalog. It is a beautiful spiral galaxy seen edge-on and is a member of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, although actually located in the southern part of constellation Coma Berenices. Lying at a distance of about 60 million light years, it shines at a visual magnitude of about 10. M98 is approaching us at a velocity of about 125 km per second and displays a chaotic, diffuse disk, containing some blue regions of newly formed stars, and a huge quantity of occulting dust, which reddens considerably the light of the central small but bright nucleus.

Image taken March 18, 2013, with the ST-8 binned 2 X 2 on the C-14 operating at F:7. Exposure is 20 minutes.