| Messier Object 59 (279 words) |
 | M59 is a member of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, and one of the larger elliptical galaxies there, although it is considerably less luminous and massive than the greatest ellipticals in this cluster, M49, M60 and, above all, M87. |
| In our image, M59 is the elongated elliptical in the lower left, while in the right are M60 and its companion NGC 4647, and at the top is faint NGC 4638, an elliptical with photographic mag 12.2. |
| M59 was discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler on April 11, 1779, together with nearby M60, on the occasion of observing the comet of that year. |
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