M58

M58 — galaxy, shown live in Cosmoscope, a real-time 3D map of the universe.

A handsome barred spiral near the centre of the cluster, its straight bar feeding gas into an active core — among the most distant Messier objects bright enough to spot by eye.

Type
Barred spiral (SAB(rs)b)
Distance
55 million light-years
Note
One of the brightest barred spirals in Virgo

Seeing M58 in real time

M58 is placed at its true position on the sky and at its real measured distance, not as a flat backdrop. Fly out from the Sun in the live 3D view and watch it change from a point of light into structure as you approach, with the scale bar showing just how far out you have travelled.

Interactive universe A living map of the solar system
Interactive universe
Waking the solar system…