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M94
Spiral Galaxy
| Right Ascension | 12h 50m 53s | Best Seen | 4/1-9/15 |
| Declination | 41° 07' 09" | Magnitude | 9 |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici | ||
Actual |
Compared to Milky Way |
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| Distance | ~20 million ly | -- |
| Actual Brightness | 8 billions suns | -- |
| Diameter | ~30,000 ly | ~0.3 |
| Mass | -- | -- |
| Galactic Type | Sb | Sbc |
What To Look For Through The Telescope
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Recommended eyepiece: 40 mm.
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When people look through the telescope they should see a fuzzy patch of light. This is the galaxy. If they are having trouble seeing it, have them look at a star near the edge of the field, then look back to the center out of the corner of their eye.
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The view through the telescope will not look like photographs of galaxies they may have seen. A photograph of a galaxy may have an exposure of may hours. This long exposure brings out the spiral arms and other details. Our eyes allow the light to collect for only about 1/30 of a second before they refresh themselves and start over again.
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This particular galaxy is bright, compact, and nearly circular.
M94 Information
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This galaxy was first discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781.
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The center of this galaxy is unusually bright, with a ring of newly formed stars around its nucleus.
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References
| Item | Updated | Notes |
| Coordinates | 2003-01-16 | tweaked with SIMBAD and SEDs |
| Distance | 2003-01-16 | apparently difficult to determine, but OK with http://messier.seds.org/m/m094.html |
| Actual Brightness | 2003-01-16 | can find no support for this |
| Diameter | 2003-01-16 | previously 33 thousand ly – with distance difficult to determine, diameter not certain http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021121.html |
| Mass | -- | |
| Galactic Type | 2003-01-16 | OK with SIMAD, SEDs |
| Other Information | -- |