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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
SunriseRise: 6:04  
clear_day Transit: 12:06  
SunsetSet: 18:09
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All Constellations »  Coma Berenices »  Deep Sky Objects » 

Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices

Altitude: 25.3°   Azimuth: 261.2°   Direction: West

Messier 99 is a Spiral Galaxy in the Coma Berenices constellation. Messier 99 is situated close to the celestial equator and, as such, it is at least partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.

The image below is a photograph of Messier 99 from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5x0.5 degrees (30x30 arcmins).

Image of Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices star
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DSS2 image of Messier 99 in the Red band. The green region on the image is a representation of the major (5.04 arcmin) and minor (4.74 arcmin) axes of the object's apparent size.

Key facts about Messier 99

Messier 99
Galaxy
Coma Berenices

Messier 99 is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 25.3°
Azimuth: 261.2°
Direction: West

See also Messier 99 rise and set times.

Given its visual magnitude of 9.87, Messier 99 is visible with the help of a binocular with a 80mm aperture or a small telescope.

Available Resources for Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices

Photometric information of Messier 99

The following table lists the magnitude of Messier 99 in different bands of the electomagnetic spectrum (when available), from the B band (445nm wavelength, corresponding to the Blue color), to the V band ( 551nm wavelength, corresponding to Green/Yellow color), to the J, H, K bands (corresponding to 1220nm, 1630nm, 2190nm wavelengths respectively, which are colors not visible to the human eye).

10.44
9.87
7.89
7.25
6.93

For more information about photometry in astronomy, check the photometric system article on Wikipedia.

The surface brightess reported below is an indication of the brightness per unit of angular area of Messier 99.

22.6 mag/arcsec2

Apparent size of Messier 99

The following table reports Messier 99 apparent angular size. The green area displayed on top of the DSS2 image of Messier 99 is a visual representation of it.
5.04 arcmin
4.74 arcmin
23°

Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices morphological classification

Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices is classified as Spiral (SAc) according to the Hubble and de Vaucouleurs galaxy morphological classification. The diagram below shows a visual representation of the position of Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices in the Hubble de Vaucouleurs sequence.

Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices
Visualization of the morphological classification of Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices, Spiral (SAc).
Credits for the background image: Antonio Ciccolella / M. De Leo / CC BY

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Messier 99

Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox of Messier 99 are provided in the following table:

12h 18m 50s
+14° 24’ 59”

The simplified sky charts below show the position of Messier 99 in the sky. The first chart has a field of view of 60° while the second one has a field of view of 10°.

Finder chart Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices star
Simplified finder chart for Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices.

Finder chart Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices star
Simplified finder chart for Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices.

Rise and set times of Messier 99 from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Today's Messier 99 (Coma Pinwheel) - Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 75.6°
Max altitude: 52.9°
Azimuth: 284.4°