M98, NGC 4192

M98 is a nearly edge-on type Sb spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices. It contains a great deal of dust, which reddens the light of the small but bright central nucleus: some new star formation regions show up as blue knots. Note that in astronomical parlance, "reddening" makes the nucleus appear noticeably orange. M98 is a member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, which is the dominant cluster in our Local Supercluster and about 60 million light-years away. This picture was taken in February 1996 at the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope. The Virgo cluster also includes Messier galaxies M49, M58, M59, M60, M61, M84, M85, M86, M87, M88, M89, M90, M91, M99, and M100.