M85 Observation Details
M85 Daily Motion
M85 will reach transit at 12:16. By the time twilight starts at 18:21 it will be at an elevation of 10° degrees and will set at 19:13, before twilight ends.M85 will become visible in October, 30. After being too close to the Sun to observe, it will reappear in the night sky. Starting from October, 30, M85 can be seen again, providing a good opportunity for observation.
M85 Visibility Timetable on September 10
M85 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M85 transit | 12:16 | 71° |
| Sunset | 17:22 | 21° |
| Civil sunset | 17:50 | 16° |
| Moon Rise, 92.3% illuminated | 18:27 | 9° |
| Astrosession begin | 18:53 | 4° |
| M85 set | 19:13 | |
| Astrosession end | 03:16 | -20° |
| M85 rise | 05:15 | |
| Moon Set | 08:11 | 34° |
Track M85 Position Throughout the Night
← Wed, 10 September 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
Where is M85 right now?
M85 is located in the constellation Coma Berenices, at right ascension 12h 25m 24s" and declination 18° 11' 29s. Although it is currently above the horizon at an altitude of 68 degrees, M85 is not visible because it is daytime.M85 - Lenticular Galaxy
M85 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M85 is part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies and is known for its bright core and lack of spiral arms.
M85 spans about 125,000 light-years across and contains a massive population of old stars. The galaxy is approximately 60 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 9.1, making it visible with a small telescope.
M85 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 M85
| Object name | M85 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M85 coordinates | 12.42336, 18.1915 |
| Center coordinates | 12.42336, 18.1915 |
M85 Passage Through Night
Current position of M85
| Time | 13:04 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| M85 elevation | 68° |
| M85 Azimuth | 148° |
Annual motion of M85
| Date | Wed, 10 September 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 18:48 |
| Twighlight end | 03:10 |
| Twighlight duration | 8h 22m |
| Rise | 05:15 |
| Set | 19:09 |
| Elevation at transit | 71° |
| Transit time | 12:12 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 12h 25m 24s", Dec: 18° 11' 29s |
| 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 M85 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.
Astrometric & Physical Parameters of M85
Coordinates & Visibility
| Right Ascension | 12.42336° |
| Declination | 18.1915° |
| Magnitude | 9.05 |
| Constellation | Coma Berenices |
| Elevation | 68.2° |
| Azimuth | 148.1° |
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.