Messier 77

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Galaxy in the constellation Cetus

title: "Messier 77" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["barred-spiral-galaxies", "seyfert-galaxies", "radio-galaxies", "luminous-infrared-galaxies", "cetus", "messier-objects", "ngc-objects", "ugc-objects", "principal-galaxies-catalogue-objects", "arp-objects", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1780", "3c-objects", "4c-objects", "discoveries-by-pierre-méchain", "mcg-objects", "iras-catalogue-objects"] description: "Galaxy in the constellation Cetus" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_77" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Galaxy in the constellation Cetus ::

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

FieldValue
nameMessier 77
imageMessier 77 spiral galaxy by HST.jpg
captionM77 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
epochJ2000
ra
dec
dist_ly14.4 Mpc
z0.003793
h_radial_v
appmag_v8.9
type(R)SA(rs)b
size27.70 kpc
(diameter; D25 isophote)
size_v
constellation nameCetus
mass~1
notesOne of the biggest galaxies of Messier's catalog. Inclination estimated to be 40°.
names
::

| name = Messier 77 | image = Messier 77 spiral galaxy by HST.jpg | caption = M77 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope | epoch = J2000 | ra = | dec = | dist_ly = 14.4 Mpc | z = 0.003793 | h_radial_v = | appmag_v = 8.9 | type = (R)SA(rs)b | size = 27.70 kpc (diameter; D25 isophote) | size_v = | constellation name = Cetus | mass = ~1 | notes = One of the biggest galaxies of Messier's catalog. Inclination estimated to be 40°. | names =

Messier 77 (M77), also known as NGC 1068 or the Squid Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It is about 47 e6ly away from Earth, and was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780, who originally described it as a nebula. Méchain then communicated his discovery to Charles Messier, who subsequently listed the object in his catalog. Both Messier and William Herschel described this galaxy as a star cluster. Today, however, the object is known to be a galaxy. It is one of the brightest Seyfert galaxies visible from Earth and has a D25 isophotal diameter of about 27.70 kpc.

Morphology

The morphological classification of NGC 1068 in the De Vaucouleurs system is (R)SA(rs)b, which includes NGC 1055, an edge-on spiral galaxy likely twisted by gravitational interactions with Messier 77, and five small irregular galaxies.

Messier 77 is an active galaxy with an active galactic nucleus (AGN), which is obscured from view by astronomical dust at visible wavelengths. The diameter of the molecular disk and hot plasma associated with the obscuring material was first measured at radio wavelengths by the VLBA and VLA. The hot dust around the nucleus was subsequently measured in the mid-infrared by the MIDI instrument at the VLTI. It is the brightest and one of the closest and best-studied type 2 Seyfert galaxies, forming a prototype of this class.

Research

Messier 77 is of key interest to scientists due to its relative proximity and luminosity, allowing for study of its active galactic nucleus. This section contains relevant scientific discoveries that have been made as a result of studying M77.

It has been proposed that type 2 Seyfert galaxies are the same class of object as type 1 Seyfert galaxies, viewed from such an angle that the type 1 core is hidden from view. An analysis of NGC 1068's spectra using interferometry by Tacconi et al. (1994) suggested that the galaxy's Seyfert 1 core was obstructed by a thick molecular cloud region.

X-ray source 1H 0244+001 in Cetus has been identified as Messier 77.

It has a radio jet consisting of a northeast and a southwest region, caused by interactions with the interstellar medium.The presence of bow shocks in the northeast region due to these interactions overlap with the edges of molecular outflow, suggesting that the jet is responsible for the outflow.

In February 2022 astronomers reported a cloud of cosmic dust, detected through infrared interferometry observations, located at the centre of Messier 77 that is hiding a supermassive black hole.

In November 2022, the IceCube collaboration announced the detection of a neutrino source emitted by the active galactic nucleus of Messier 77. It is the second detection by IceCube after TXS 0506+056, and only the fourth known source including SN1987A and solar neutrinos. A potential candidate for the source of these neutrinos is the magnetic corona surrounding the active galactic nucleus, providing powerful enough particle acceleration to cause neutron radiation phenomena. To explain the combination of Messier 77 being an energetic neutrinos source and a weak gamma rays source, a mechanism was suggested whereby helium nuclei collide with ultraviolet photons emitted by the galaxy's central region and break up, releasing neutrons that eventually decay into neutrinos without producing gamma rays.

Supernova

One supernova has been observed in Messier 77. SN 2018ivc (Type II, mag. 14.6523) was discovered by the DLT40 Survey on 24 November 2018.

Gallery

File:The squid and the whale (potw2515a).jpg|M77 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope|alt="A close-up of a spiral galaxy, seen face-on. Its center is a bright glowing From the sides of the galaxy's core emerge spiral arms which wind through the round disc of the galaxy, filled with shining pink spots where stars are forming and more dark-red dust. Some faint stars can be seen around the galaxy, as well as a particularly bright star in the lower left of the image." File:Dazzling galaxy Messier 77.jpg|M77 imaged by ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) File:M77 Clr SuperNova 2.jpg|M77 with SN 2018ivc, November 2018

References

| title=Infrared Spectroscopy of NGC 1068: Probing the Obscured Ionizing AGN Continuum | last1=Alexander | first1=Tal | last2=Lutz | first2=Dieter | last3=Sturm | first3=Eckhard | last4=Genzel | first4=Reinhard | last5=Sternberg | first5=Amiel | last6=Netzer | first6=Hagai | journal=The Astrophysical Journal | volume=536 | issue=2 | pages=710–717 | date=June 2000 | doi=10.1086/308973 | bibcode=2000ApJ...536..710A | arxiv=astro-ph/0002107 | s2cid=15617708 | postscript=. }}

| title=Near-infrared image of NGC 1068 - Bar-driven star formation and the circumnuclear composition | last1=Thronson | first1=Harley A. Jr. | last2=Hereld | first2=Mark | last3=Majewski | first3=Steven | last4=Greenhouse | first4=Matthew | last5=Johnson | first5=Paul | last6=Spillar | first6=Earl | last7=Woodward | first7=C. E. | last8=Harper | first8=D. A. | last9=Rauscher | first9=Bernard J. | display-authors=1 | journal=Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 | postscript=. | volume=343 | date=1 August 1989 | pages=158–168 | doi=10.1086/167693 | bibcode=1989ApJ...343..158T }}

| title=A Catalog of Visually Classified Galaxies in the Local (z ~ 0.01) Universe | last1=Ann | first1=H. B. | last2=Seo | first2=Mira | last3=Ha | first3=D. K. | display-authors=1 | journal=The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series | volume=217 | issue=2 | pages=27–49 | date=2015 | bibcode=2015ApJS..217...27A | doi=10.1088/0067-0049/217/2/27 | arxiv=1502.03545 | s2cid=119253507 | postscript=. }}

| last=de Vaucouleurs | first=Gérard | title=Revised Classification of 1500 Bright Galaxies | journal=Astrophysical Journal Supplement | date=April 1963 | volume=8 | page=31 | postscript=. | doi=10.1086/190084 | bibcode=1963ApJS....8...31D }}

| last1=de Vaucouleurs | first1=G. | last2=de Vaucouleurs | first2=A. | last3=Corwin | first3=H. G. Jr. | last4=Buta | first4=R. J. | last5=Paturel | first5=G. | last6=Fouque | first6=P. | title=Third reference catalogue of bright galaxies | version=9 | display-authors=1 | date=1991 | publisher=Springer-Verlag | location=New York }}

| title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database | work=Results for NGC 1068 | url=http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?objname=m77&extend=no&hconst=73&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=RA+or+Longitude&of=pre_text&zv_breaker=30000.0&list_limit=5&img_stamp=YES | access-date=2006-11-18

| author1=R. J. Rand | author2=J. F. Wallin | year=2004 | title=Pattern Speeds BIMA-SONG Galaxies with Molecule-Dominated ISMs Using the Tremaine-Weinberg Method | doi=10.1086/423423 | journal=The Astrophysical Journal | volume=614 | issue=1 | pages=142–157 | arxiv=astro-ph/0406426 |bibcode = 2004ApJ...614..142R | s2cid=17095983

| last1 = de Vaucouleurs | first1 = Gérard | date = 1973 | title = Southern Galaxies.VI. Luminosity Distribution in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 1566 | journal=Astrophysical Journal | volume = 181 | pages = 31–50 | bibcode = 1973ApJ...181...31D | doi = 10.1086/152028

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

|author=Wood KS |author2=Meekins JF |author3=Yentis DJ |author4=Smathers HW |author5=McNutt DP |author6=Bleach RD |date=1984 |title=The HEAO A-1 X-ray source catalog |journal=Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series |volume=56 |issue=12 |pages=507–649 |doi=10.1086/190992 |bibcode=1984ApJS...56..507W |doi-access=free

References

  1. "Messier 77".
  2. "Spiral Galaxy M-77 (NGC 1068) in Cetus". Kopernik Observatory & Science Center.
  3. "A Galaxy on the Edge". European Southern Observatory.
  4. (2025-01-01). "Direct imaging of active galactic nucleus outflows and their origin with the 23 m Large Binocular Telescope". Nature Astronomy.
  5. (2006-01-01). "Continuum emission in NGC 1068 and NGC 3147: indications for a turnover in the core spectra". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
  6. (1994-05-01). "The Nature of the Dense Obscuring Material in the Nucleus of NGC 1068". The Astrophysical Journal.
  7. (1996-02-01). "The Subarcsecond Radio Structure in NGC 1068. I. Observations and Results". The Astrophysical Journal.
  8. (2023-12-15). "Radio jets in NGC 1068 with e-MERLIN and VLA: structure and morphology". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
  9. . (16 February 2022). ["Supermassive black hole caught hiding in a ring of cosmic dust"](https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2203/). *European Southern Observatory*.
  10. (February 2022). "Thermal imaging of dust hiding the black hole in NGC 1068". Nature.
  11. (4 November 2022). "Evidence for neutrino emission from the nearby active galaxy NGC 1068". Science.
  12. Staff. (3 November 2022). "IceCube neutrinos give us first glimpse into the inner depths of an active galaxy".
  13. (2024-10-01). "A Magnetized Strongly Turbulent Corona as the Source of Neutrinos from NGC 1068". The Astrophysical Journal.
  14. (2025-04-18). "Neutrinos and Gamma Rays from Beta Decays in an Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 1068 Jet". Physical Review Letters.
  15. "SN 2018ivc". [[International Astronomical Union.
  16. "M 77".
  17. (1 February 2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal.
  18. (24 July 2015). "Messier 77: Cetus A - Messier Objects".
  19. (2018-11-29). "Supernova Discovered in the Bright Galaxy M77".
  20. "Dazzling galaxy Messier 77".

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barred-spiral-galaxiesseyfert-galaxiesradio-galaxiesluminous-infrared-galaxiescetusmessier-objectsngc-objectsugc-objectsprincipal-galaxies-catalogue-objectsarp-objectsastronomical-objects-discovered-in-17803c-objects4c-objectsdiscoveries-by-pierre-méchainmcg-objectsiras-catalogue-objects