M86 - NGC 4406

Messier 86 (NGC 4406) is a giant elliptical or lenticular galaxy located approximately 52 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781 and is one of the brightest galaxies in the central region of the Virgo Cluster. M86 is classified as an E3 or S0 galaxy and has a visual magnitude of about 8.9 with a physical diameter of approximately 135,000 light-years. One of M86's most remarkable properties is its extreme blueshift: it is approaching the Milky Way at about 244 kilometers per second, one of the highest approach velocities of any Messier galaxy. While the Virgo Cluster as a whole is receding from us, M86 is moving so rapidly through the cluster that its peculiar velocity exceeds the cluster's recession velocity, resulting in a net approach. This high velocity through the hot intracluster medium has stripped M86 of a significant portion of its interstellar gas, creating a dramatic tail of X-ray emitting gas extending more than 150,000 light-years behind the galaxy, detected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The galaxy possesses a large system of globular clusters and a smooth, extended envelope of diffuse starlight. M86 is a key member of Markarian's Chain and appears in the same telescopic field as M84. Together with several other galaxies in the chain, M84 and M86 create one of the most striking galaxy groupings visible in amateur telescopes. Through a moderate telescope, M86 appears as a bright, slightly elongated glow with a gradually brightening center, virtually indistinguishable from M84 in small instruments.

M86 spans approximately 135,000 light-years in diameter and lies about 52 million light-years from Earth, approaching us at 244 km/s.