Some Messiers

Messier 87. This is the galaxy that has had its supermassive black hole imaged in radio wavelengths. recently, the first time one has ever been seen. It  has an enormous jet of material hurtling out of its core at close to light speed, thousand of light years long. I was surprised to  find that I can see the relativistic jet on my image, very exciting.

Messier 87

Relativistic jet emerging from the galaxy M87

Wikipedia:  Messier 87 (also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486, generally abbreviated to M87) is a supergiant elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo. One of the most massive galaxies in the local universe, it has a large population of globular clusters—about 12,000 compared with the 150–200 orbiting the Milky Way—and a jet of energetic plasma that originates at the core and extends at least 1,500 parsecs (4,900 light-years), traveling at a relativistic speed.

The core contains a supermassive black hole (SMBH), designated M87*,[31][66] whose mass is billions of times that of the Earth's Sun. This black hole is the first and, to date, the only one to be imaged.


MEssier 97 The Owl Nebula. On a MUCH smaller scale, though 'astronomical' byEarth standard, is the planetary nebula M97. This is what is left when a red giant 'blows off' its atmosphere and shrinks to a white dwarf. The fate of our sun in a few billion years.

M97 The Owl Nebula

Wikipedia:  The Owl Nebula (also known as Messier 97, M97 or NGC 3587) is a planetary nebula located approximately 2,030 light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by French astronomer Pierre Méchain on February 16, 1781. When William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, observed the nebula in 1848, his hand-drawn illustration resembled an owl's head. It has been known as the Owl Nebula ever since.

The nebula is approximately 8,000 years old. It is approximately circular in cross-section with a little visible internal structure. It was formed from the outflow of material from the stellar wind of the central star as it evolved along the asymptotic giant branch. The nebula is arranged in three concentric shells, with the outermost shell being about 20–30% larger than the inner shell. The owl-like appearance of the nebula is the result of an inner shell that is not circularly symmetric, but instead forms a barrel-like structure aligned at an angle of 45° to the line of sight.