NGC 4501

Messier 88 (NGC 4501) is a large, bright spiral galaxy of type Sc in the constellation Coma Berenices, approximately 47–60 million light-years away as a member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Charles Messier discovered it on March 18, 1781. NGC 4501 is one of the brighter Virgo Cluster spirals, with well-defined, symmetrically wound spiral arms and a prominent central bulge. It is tilted at about 30 degrees from edge-on as seen from Earth — enough to show the spiral structure clearly while also revealing the dust lanes threading through its disk.

NGC 4501 is notable for the asymmetry visible between its two main spiral arms: one side of the disk appears more compressed and brighter, while the opposite side is more diffuse and extended. This one-sided compression is attributed to ram-pressure stripping — the galaxy is moving through the hot intracluster gas of the Virgo Cluster, which acts like a headwind on the galaxy's own gas and dust, piling it up on the leading edge and gradually stripping gas from the trailing side. This process is slowly quenching star formation in the galaxy's outer regions. NGC 4501 has produced several supernovae in the modern observational era, confirming active star formation in its inner disk.

In a small telescope M88 shows a slightly inclined oval shape with a brighter nucleus; moderate apertures reveal a hint of the spiral structure and the elongated disk. This image was made at the Kitt Peak National Observatory 0.9-meter telescope.