Messier 59 (M59) is one of the largest elliptical galaxies in the Virgo galaxy cluster. However, it is still considerably less massive, and at a magnitude of 9.8, less luminous than other elliptical galaxies in the cluster.

A supermassive black hole around 270 million times as massive as the Sun resides at the center of M59. The galaxy also has an inner disk of stars and around 2,200 globular star clusters, an exceptionally high number of such clusters. The central region of the galaxy, the inner 200 light-years, rotates in the opposite direction than the rest of the galaxy and is the smallest region in a galaxy known to exhibit this behavior.

Both Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 contributed to this view, producing a multi-wavelength image in ultraviolet, near-infrared, and visible light. About half of M59 can be seen in this image, as well as some of the galaxy’s globular clusters (appearing as bright points of light).

For more information, visit: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/messier-59