M61, NGC 4303

The SABbc spiral galaxy M61 is one of the larger galaxies in the Virgo cluster, with a core dimension some 100000 light-years (6 arc minutes) across, comparable to the size of our own Galaxy. 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, M84, M85, M86, M87, M88, M89, M90, M91, M98, M99, and M100. Image size 15.9 arc minutes.