M 86 - NGC 4406
Virgo
Penryn, California
April 2009
M 250 @ f9.3 (ag, ST-4)
ST-10XME LRGB 10 minute subs
M 86 is a giant elliptical galaxy in the Virgo
group being stripped of gases due to ram pressure as it falls towards the center
of the Virgo group (Randall, et. al. 2008). Distance to M 86 is 4 Mly.
M 86 experienced a recent close encounter
with NGC 4438 of the Virgo group. NOAO recently
released a study of this encounter noting "A deep new image of the Virgo
cluster has revealed monumental tendrils of ionized hydrogen gas 400,000
light-years long connecting the elliptical galaxy M86 and the disturbed spiral
galaxy NGC 4438."
