Located in the constellation
of Coma Berenices is a small, dim galaxy known as M91. Until
recently, this galaxy had been missing. Messier's notes had
given the wrong position for this object. An amateur astronomer
from Texas finally figured out its true location in 1969. This
galaxy is classified as a barred spiral. The center part of the
galaxy displays a prominent bar-shape, which can be seen even in
small telescopes. M91 is a member of the Virgo cluster of
galaxies and it located about 60 million light-years from Earth.
It is receding from us at a rate of 400 km/sec. With a magnitude
of only 10.2 it is best observed with a large telescope.
