M85

Alt. Designations: NGC 4382
Object Type: Lenticular Galaxy
Constellation: Coma Berenices
Distance: 60 mly
Right Ascension: 12h 25m 23.9s
Declination: +18° 11´ 27"
Visual Magnitude: 9.2
Apparent Dimension: 7.1´ x 5.5´
Best Month To View: Mar

Coma Berenices is the home of M85, a lenticular galaxy that is part of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. It is very similar in appearance and brightness to M84. It was the site of a supernova in 1960 that reached a magnitude of 11.7. This galaxy is located some 60 million light-years from Earth and is believed to have a diameter of around 125,000 light-years. It appears to be composed almost entirely of old yellow stars and is receding from us at about 700 km/sec. As with M84, this galaxy is a disappointing sight in anything but a large telescope.