Black Eye Galaxy (M64) Observation Details
M64 Daily Motion
M64 will be visible until August, 13, 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.
M64 Visibility Timetable on January 21
Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| Astrosession begin | 19:13 | -23° |
| M64 rise | 22:04 | |
| Moon Rise, 46.2% illuminated | 01:37 | 40° |
| M64 transit | 05:20 | 72° |
| Astrosession end | 06:13 | 69° |
| Civil sunrise | 07:18 | 59° |
| Sunrise | 07:49 | 53° |
| Moon Set | 11:50 | 8° |
| M64 set | 12:37 |
Track M64 Position Throughout the Night
← Tue, 21 January 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M64 - Black Eye Galaxy
The Black Eye Galaxy (M64) is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered by Edward Pigott in 1779 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M64 is known for its dark dust lane that gives it the appearance of a black eye.
M64 spans about 54,000 light-years across and contains a massive population of stars, gas, and dust. The galaxy is approximately 24 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 8.5, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M64 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 M64
| Object name | M64 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M64 coordinates | 12.94546, 21.68297 |
| Center coordinates | 12.94546, 21.68297 |
M64 Passage Through Night
Current position of M64
| Time | 09:06 |
| Latitude | 39.9625 |
| Longitude | -83.0061 |
| M64 elevation | 40° |
| M64 Azimuth | 94° |
Annual motion of M64
| Date | Wed, 22 January 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 19:09 |
| Twighlight end | 06:08 |
| Twighlight duration | 11h 59m |
| Rise | 22:04 |
| Set | 12:37 |
| Elevation at transit | 72° |
| Transit time | 05:20 |
| Equatorial coordinate | RA: 12h 56m 43s", Dec: 21° 40' 58s |
| Magnitude | 9 |
| Constellation | Coma Berenices |
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 M64 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.