M60

giant elliptical galaxy · Virgo Cluster

53.8 million light-years from Earth

A giant elliptical with a central black hole of about 4.5 billion Suns. The spiral NGC 4647 lies beside it on our sky; whether the two really interact is not settled. Close by, the tiny galaxy M60-UCD1 holds a black hole of 21 million Suns, 15% of its whole mass.

• 53.8 million light-years · about 106,000 light-years across
• about 4,000 globular clusters swarm round it

kind

galaxy

catalogue

M60 · NGC 4649

size

106,000 light-years across