| A L P H A C E N T A U R I P L A N E T A R I U M |
           |
Credit: AURA/NOAO/NSF |
          |
E X P L O R A T I O N B E Y O N D O U R S O L A R S Y S T E M |
| Currently, you are in image set fifteen. Go to
next image set to access more thumbnails. Or, you may go to next image or select image via thumbnail columns below. |
| Set Fifteen: Image 13 of 20: M102, NGC 5866 | ||||||||
| A L P H A C E N T A U R I P L A N E T A R I U M |
|
Credit: AURA/NOAO/NSF |
|
E X P L O R A T I O N B E Y O N D O U R S O L A R S Y S T E M |
|
M102 is really the only controversial entry
in Messier's catalogue. Some have concluded it was an
erroneous duplicate observation of M101, a conclusion
which Messier's friend and fellow observer Mechain stated
some years after his original discovery. However, a
number of cogent arguments suggest that both men actually
observed the Spindle Galaxy, NGC 5866 in the
constellation Draco, and it is this galaxy which is shown
here. It is a lenticular galaxy of type S0 (essentially a
spiral galaxy without the spiral structure).