M89 is a large elliptical type E0 galaxy in Virgo. It is the galaxy in the center of the above image. The two galaxies on the left are NGC 4550 (a magnitude 11.5 spiral galaxy) and NGC 4551 (a magnitude 12.0 elliptical galaxy). To the right of M89 in this image, you can see a tiny magnitude 14.0 spiral galaxy that is IC 3540. In this image, north is to the right. M89 resembles M87 in appearance, but is about one magnitude fainter. It is part of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. M89 is a relatively bright galaxy at magnitude 9.9. M89 is located close to M90 and M58. All three galaxies can be seen together in the same low-power field of view.
M89 was discovered by Charles Messier in March 1781. It was included in the Messier catalog published in 1781.
This is an LRGB composite CCD image. An STL-11000M CCD was used at prime focus on a Takahashi FCT-150 refractor at f7. The image was taken from my backyard in Scottsdale, Arizona.
M89 (NGC 4552)
Constellation: Virgo
RA: 12h 35m 40s Dec: +12d 33' 22" (J2000)
January 13, 14 & 16, 2008
Image by Sid Leach
Scottsdale, Arizona
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