| M102 |
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| Spindle Galaxy | |||||||||||
| NGC 5866 | |||||||||||
| Type: | Lenticular (S0) Galaxy | ||||||||||
| Constellation: | Draco | ||||||||||
| Magnitude: | 10.5 | ||||||||||
| Size: | 5.2' x 2.3' | ||||||||||
| RA-Dec: | 15h 6.5m - 55 45 | ||||||||||
| Difficulty: | C | E=easy, T=tough, C=challenging | |||||||||
| Description: | |||||||||||
| M102 is probably a mistake. Messier most likely recorded a duplicate observation of M101, and never saw the galaxy which we now call M102. Also known as NGC 5866, this is a large edge-on lenticular galaxy with a thin dark lane visible in larger telescopes under dark skies. A small telescope reveals an elongated glow gradually brightening towards its center. M102 is the brightest member of a large group of galaxies (the NGC 5866 group). | |||||||||||
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