Messier 105

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title: "Messier 105" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["elliptical-galaxies", "m96-group", "leo-(constellation)", "messier-objects", "ngc-objects", "ugc-objects", "principal-galaxies-catalogue-objects", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1781", "discoveries-by-pierre-méchain", "mcg-objects"] description: "Elliptical galaxy in the constellation Leo" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_105" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Elliptical galaxy in the constellation Leo ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Galaxy"]

Field	Value
name	Messier 105
image	Messier105 - HST - Potw1901a.jpg
caption	M105 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope;
Credit: NASA/ESA
epoch	J2000
ra
dec
group_cluster	Leo I Group
constellation name	Leo
z
h_radial_v
dist_ly	11.22 Mpc
type	E1
appmag_v	9.3
size_v
size	~20.57 kpc (estimated)
names
::

| name = Messier 105 | image = Messier105 - HST - Potw1901a.jpg | caption = M105 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope; Credit: NASA/ESA | epoch = J2000 | ra = | dec = | group_cluster = Leo I Group | constellation name = Leo | z = | h_radial_v = | dist_ly = 11.22 Mpc | type = E1 | appmag_v = 9.3 | size_v = | size = ~20.57 kpc (estimated) | notes = | names =

Messier 105 or M105, also known as NGC 3379, is an elliptical galaxy 36.6 It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, just a few days after he discovered the nearby galaxies Messier 95 and Messier 96. This galaxy is one of a few not object-verified by Messier so omitted in the editions of his Catalogue of his era. It was appended when Helen S. Hogg found a letter by Méchain locating and describing this object which matched those aspects under its first-published name, NGC 3379.

Messier 105 has a morphological classification of E1, indicating a standard elliptical galaxy with a flattening of 10%. The major axis is aligned along a position angle of 71°. Isophotes of the galaxy are near perfect ellipses, twisting no more than 5° out of alignment, with changes in ellipticity of no more than 0.06. There is no fine structure apparent in the isophotes, such as ripples. Observation of giant stars in the halo indicate there are two general populations: a dominant metal-rich subpopulation and a weaker metal-poor group.

Messier 105 is known to have a supermassive black hole at its core whose mass is estimated to be between and . The galaxy has a weak active galactic nucleus of the LINER type with a spectral class of L2/T2, meaning no broad Hα line and intermediate emission line ratios between a LINER and a H II region. The galaxy also contains a few young stars and stellar clusters, suggesting some elliptical galaxies still form new stars, but very slowly.

This galaxy, along with its companion the barred lenticular galaxy NGC 3384, is surrounded by an enormous ring of neutral hydrogen with a radius of 200 kpc and a mass of where star formation has been detected. Messier 105 is one of several galaxies within the M96 Group (also known as the Leo I Group), a group of galaxies in the constellation Leo, the other Messier objects of which are M95 and M96. It is one of the richest group of galaxies in the Local Volume, and unlike the Local Group, it is dominated by not one but several galaxies.

References and footnotes

| website=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database | title=Results for object MESSIER 105 | publisher = NASA and Caltech | url=https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/byname?objname=MESSIER+105 | access-date=2006-11-16 }}

| title=Spectral Energy Distributions of Weak Active Galactic Nuclei Associated with Low-Ionization Nuclear Emission Regions | last1=Eracleous | first1=Michael | last2=Hwang | first2=Jason A. | last3=Flohic | first3=Hélène M. L. G. | display-authors=1 | journal=The Astrophysical Journal Supplement | volume=187 | issue=1 | pages=135–148 | date=March 2010 | doi=10.1088/0067-0049/187/1/135 | bibcode=2010ApJS..187..135E | arxiv=1001.2924 | s2cid=118600750 }}

| title=The intrinsic shape of NGC 3379 | last1=Statler | first1=Thomas S. | journal=The Astronomical Journal | volume=108 | issue=1 | pages=111–127 | date=July 1994 | doi=10.1086/117050 | bibcode=1994AJ....108..111S }}

| title=Dual Stellar Halos in the Standard Elliptical Galaxy M105 and Formation of Massive Early-type Galaxies | last1=Lee | first1=Myung Gyoon | last2=Jang | first2=In Sung | journal=The Astrophysical Journal | volume=822 | issue=2 | id=70 | pages=17 | date=May 2016 | doi=10.3847/0004-637X/822/2/70 | bibcode=2016ApJ...822...70L | arxiv=1601.06798 | s2cid=118372642 | doi-access=free }}

| last1=Tian | first1=Yong | last2=Ko | first2=Chung-Ming | title=Dynamics of elliptical galaxies with planetary nebulae in modified Newtonian dynamics | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume=462 | issue=1 | pages=1092–1100 | date=October 2016 | doi=10.1093/mnras/stw1697 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2016MNRAS.462.1092T | arxiv=1606.06815 | s2cid=118600624 }}

| last1=Tully | first1=R. Brent | last2=Courtois | first2=Hélène M. | last3=Sorce | first3=Jenny G. | display-authors=1 | title=Cosmicflows-3 | journal=The Astronomical Journal | volume=152 | issue=2 | id=50 | pages=21 | date=August 2016 | doi=10.3847/0004-6256/152/2/50 | bibcode=2016AJ....152...50T | arxiv=1605.01765 | s2cid=250737862 | postscript=. | doi-access=free }}

| first1=K. G. | last1=Jones | date=1991 | edition=2nd | title=Messier's Nebulae and Star Clusters | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-37079-0 }}

| last1=Shapiro | first1=Kristen L. | last2=Cappellari | first2=Michele | last3=de Zeeuw | first3=Tim | last4=McDermid | first4=Richard M. | last5=Gebhardt | first5=Karl | last6=van den Bosch | first6=Remco C. E. | last7=Statler | first7=Thomas S. | display-authors=1 | title=The black hole in NGC 3379: a comparison of gas and stellar dynamical mass measurements with HST and integral-field data | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume=370 | issue=2 | pages=559–579 | date=2006 | bibcode=2006MNRAS.370..559S | arxiv=astro-ph/0605479 | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10537.x | doi-access=free | s2cid=16990276 }}

| last1=Ford | first1=Alyson | last2=Bregman | first2=J. N. | title=Detection of Ongoing, Low-Level Star Formation in Nearby Ellipticals | journal=American Astronomical Society | date=2012 | volume=219 | pages=102–03 | bibcode=2012AAS...21910203F }}

| first1=R. B. | last1=Tully | date=1988 | title=Nearby Galaxies Catalog | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-35299-4 }}

| first1=P. | last1=Fouque | last2=Gourgoulhon | first2=E. | last3=Chamaraux | first3=P. | last4=Paturel | first4=G. | title=Groups of galaxies within 80 Mpc. II – The catalogue of groups and group members | display-authors=1 | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement | date=1992 | volume=93 | pages=211–233 | bibcode=1992A&AS...93..211F }}

| first1=A. | last1=Garcia | title=General study of group membership. II – Determination of nearby groups | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement | volume=100 | pages=47–90 | date=1993 | bibcode=1993A&AS..100...47G }}

| first1=G. | last1=Giuricin | first2=C. | last2=Marinoni | first3=L. | last3=Ceriani | first4=A. | last4=Pisani | title=Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of Groups | display-authors=1 | journal=The Astrophysical Journal | volume=543 | issue=1 | pages=178–194 | date=2000 | bibcode=2000ApJ...543..178G | doi=10.1086/317070 | arxiv=astro-ph/0001140 | s2cid=9618325 }}

| last1=Thilker | first1=David A. | last2=Donovan | first2=Jennifer | last3=Schiminovich | first3=David | last4=Bianchi | first4=Luciana | last5=Boissier | first5=Samuel | last6=Gil de Paz | first6=Armando | last7=Madore | first7=Barry F. | last8=Martin | first8=D. Christopher | last9=Seibert | first9=Mark | display-authors=1 | title=Massive star formation within the Leo 'primordial' ring | journal=Nature | volume=457 | issue=7232 | pages=990–993 | date=2009 | bibcode=2009Natur.457..990T | doi=10.1038/nature07780 | pmid=19225520 | s2cid=4424307 }}

References

1. "Messier 105".
2. (6 October 2017). "Messier 105".
3. "M 105".
4. (1 February 2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal.
5. (2023). "The pride of lions around Messier 105". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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