M86 Observation Details
M86 Daily Motion
M86 will be visible until July, 22, when it will move too close to the Sun. During this time, its proximity to the Sun will cause it to disappear from the night sky, making it unobservable for a while.
M86 Visibility Timetable on May 03
M86 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| Moon Rise, 29.6% illuminated | 10:29 | -36° |
| M86 rise | 16:29 | |
| Sunset | 20:26 | 45° |
| Civil sunset | 20:57 | 50° |
| Astrosession begin | 22:12 | 60° |
| M86 transit | 23:13 | 63° |
| Moon Set | 02:19 | 41° |
| Astrosession end | 04:44 | 13° |
| M86 set | 05:56 |
Track M86 Position Throughout the Night
← Sat, 3 May 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M86 - Lenticular Galaxy
M86 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. M86 is part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies and is known for its bright core and lack of spiral arms.
M86 spans about 120,000 light-years across and contains a massive population of old stars. The galaxy is approximately 52 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 9.2, making it visible with a small telescope.
M86 Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite image
The photos are taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), which was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under NASA contract, using data from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M86
| Object name | M86 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M86 coordinates | 12.43659, 12.94622 |
| Center coordinates | 12.43659, 12.94622 |
M86 Passage Through Night
Current position of M86
| Time | 01:03 |
| Latitude | 39.9625 |
| Longitude | -83.0061 |
| M86 elevation | 54° |
| M86 Azimuth | 130° |
Annual motion of M86
| Date | Sun, 4 May 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 22:13 |
| Twighlight end | 04:42 |
| Twighlight duration | 6h 29m |
| Rise | 16:25 |
| Set | 05:52 |
| Elevation at transit | 63° |
| Transit time | 23:09 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 12h 26m 11s", Dec: 12° 56' 46s |
| Magnitude | 9 |
| Constellation | Virgo |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M86 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.