Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. M61 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies . M61 was discovered by telescope in 1779 twice on the same day, but one observer initially mistook the galaxy for a comet. Light from M61 takes about 60 million years to reach us. Recent observations of M61 have detected unpredicted high velocity gas moving in its halo.
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