- G27 minutes (7 frames)
- L48 minutes (12 frames)
- B24 minutes (6 frames)
- R33 minutes (9 frames)
The Black Eye Galaxy, also known as M64 or the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy, is located in the constellation Coma Berenices, about 17 million light-years from Earth. It gets its name from the dark dust lane that runs through its center, creating the visual effect of a "black eye".
Description and characteristics
The galaxy has an unusual structure, with a bright central core surrounded by dust lanes and star formations. M64 is known for having gas in its outer regions that rotates in the opposite direction to the galaxy's interior. This discovery was made in the 1990s and is associated with a possible merger with a smaller galaxy in the past.
The Black Eye is a typical spiral galaxy with a diameter of 16.51 kiloparsecs (53,800 light-years). It contains about 100 billion stars. The galaxy is also a Type 2 Seyfert galaxy, indicating the presence of an active nucleus that emits X-rays and radio waves. The center of the galaxy contains a supermassive black hole, whose mass is about 8.4 x 10^6 solar masses.
Stellar Formation and Study
The outer regions of the Black Eye galaxy are home to active star formation, particularly where the oppositely rotating disks of gas meet. These regions contain hot blue stars and pink clouds of hydrogen, which emit light when exposed to ultraviolet light from new stars.
M64 is an important target for astronomers to study star formation and galactic evolution, as it exhibits unique interactions with neighboring galaxies.
This image of the galaxy, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, clearly shows the dark lane of dust that gives it its distinctive appearance. This image is a result of the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and uses data taken through four different filters to highlight the wavelengths of light emitted by hydrogen and other elements.
| Photo | Date | Frames | Exposure | L | R | G | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 18 Mar 2021 | 31 | 01:02 | 01:02 | |||
 | 24 Feb 2018 | 40 | 01:20 | 00:28 | 00:26 | 00:26 |
Visibility chart of Black Eye Galaxy (M 64) during the day
| Date | Moon Phase | Exposure | CCD Temperature | Gain | Offset | Filter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- 2023ixf•
- 40 Eri•
- Abell 74•
- Artemis A868 SA•
- a Canis Minoris•
- C 2020 R4 ATLAS•
- C 2020 T2 Palomar•
- C 2021 S3 (PANSTARRS)•
- Haumea (2003 EL61)•
- HCG 68•
- HCG 92•
- IC 1318B•
- IC 1396•
- IC 1795•
- IC 1805•
- IC 1848•
- IC 1871•
- IC 3322A•
- IC 342•
- IC 4015•
- IC 405•
- IC 417•
- IC 434•
- IC 443•
- IC 4703•
- IC 5070•
- IC 5146•
- IC 63•
- M 1•
- M 101•
- M 103•
- M 109•
- M 13•
- M 15•
- M 27•
- M 3•
- M 33•
- M 42•
- M 45•
- M 5•
- M 51•
- M 57•
- M 63•
- M 64•
- M 74•
- M 76•
- M 81•
- M 82•
- M 86•
- M 87•
- M 94•
- M 97•
- NGC 147•
- NGC 1491•
- NGC 1499•
- NGC 1579•
- NGC 1961•
- NGC 2146•
- NGC 2239•
- NGC 2403•
- NGC 281•
- NGC 4236•
- NGC 4565•
- NGC 4631•
- NGC 507•
- NGC 508•
- NGC 5866•
- NGC 5907•
- NGC 6503•
- NGC 6823•
- NGC 6888•
- NGC 6946•
- NGC 6992•
- NGC 6995•
- NGC 7000•
- NGC 7023•
- NGC 7129•
- NGC 7217•
- NGC 7331•
- NGC 7380•
- NGC 7538•
- NGC 7635•
- NGC 7640•
- NGC 7822•
- NGC 891•
- NGC 896•
- NGC 925•
- PGC 54559•
- Sh2-155•
- Sh2-168•
- Sh2 103•
- Sh2 109•
- Sh2 132•
- T CrB•
- UGC 6930•
- V1405 Cas•
- Vesta A807 FA•