M87

[xilman]

No apologies for posting this one I took in the wee hours of this morning. I think it is pretty.

Deep in the heart of M87 is a particularly super-massive black hole, the first image of which was released earlier this year. The BH itself is far to small to be imaged at optical wavelengths from the ground. It produces jets of highly relativistic particles which emit light over distances of many kiloparsecs. The jet pointing generally towards us is visible in relatively small telescopes. The false-colour image here shows the region close to the center of the galaxy and clearly shows the jet.

[sweety439]

M87 is the 87-th Mersenne number: 2^87-1, its factorization is 7 · 233 · 1103 · 2089 · 4177 · 9857737155463

[xilman]

Originally Posted by sweety439

M87 is the 87-th Mersenne number: 2^87-1, its factorization is 7 · 233 · 1103 · 2089 · 4177 · 9857737155463

You chose exactly the most appropriate smiley

[Spherical Cow]

Very nice one; you must be getting some good skies there. What sort of exposure time are we looking at?

[ATH]

M87 is also the far future 87th known Mersenne Prime.

Calculating approximate value in the best case scenario using our last 13 lucky primes:

M87 = 82589933 * ((82589933/6972593)^1/13)³⁸ ~ 113.5 B


Using the "standard" factor of 1.47576:

M87 = 82589933 * 1.47576³⁸ ~ 218537 B

[sweety439]

Originally Posted by ATH

M87 is also the far future 87th known Mersenne Prime.

Calculating approximate value in the best case scenario using our last 13 lucky primes:

M87 = 82589933 * ((82589933/6972593)^1/13)³⁸ ~ 113.5 B


Using the "standard" factor of 1.47576:

M87 = 82589933 * 1.47576³⁸ ~ 218537 B

Is this number "lucky prime" (OEIS A031157 = 3, 7, 13, 31, 37, 43, 67, 73, 79, 127, 151, 163, 193, 211, 223, 241, 283, 307, 331, 349, 367, 409, 421, 433, 463, 487, 541, 577, 601, 613, 619, 631, 643, 673, 727, 739, 769, 787, 823, 883, 937, 991, 997, ...)?

[retina]

Originally Posted by ATH

M87 is also the far future 87th known Mersenne Prime.

Calculating approximate value in the best case scenario using our last 13 lucky primes:

M87 = 82589933 * ((82589933/6972593)^1/13)³⁸ ~ 113.5 B


Using the "standard" factor of 1.47576:

M87 = 82589933 * 1.47576³⁸ ~ 218537 B

Where does "38" come from?

M(82589933) is the 51st. So 87-51=36. Maybe you meant 36?

[ATH]

Yeah I meant 36, for some reason I did 89-51.

M87 = 82589933 * ((82589933/6972593)^1/13)³⁶ ~ 77.6 B

M87 = 82589933 * 1.47576³⁶ ~ 100344 B

[xilman]

Originally Posted by xilman

You chose exactly the most appropriate smiley

Come to think about it, where is cmd these days? Not seen horseshit around for ages.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Remarkable, the progress in imaging that's being made. And this is the information age, so...

I'm not an astronomer, but even I've heard of The Messier Catalog of Deep Sky Objects:

The Messier Catalog, sometimes known as the Messier Album or list of Messier objects, is one of the most useful tools in the astronomy hobby. In the middle of the 18th century, the return of Halley's comet helped to prove the Newtonian theory, and helped to spark a new interest in astronomy. During this time, a French astronomer named Charles Messier began a life-long search for comets. He would eventually discover 15 of them. On August 28, 1758, while searching for comets, Messier found a small cloudy object in the constellation Taurus. He began keeping a journal of these nebulous (cloudy) objects so that they would not be confused with comets. This journal is known today as the Messier Catalog, or Messier Album. The deep sky objects in this catalog are commonly referred to as Messier objects.

The first of the Messier objects to be observed by Messier was the remnant of a supernova explosion known as the Crab Nebula (M1). Over the next few years, Messier and his colleagues would catalog a total of 110 nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters. Today, the Messier Catalog is a valuable tool for amateur astronomers. In fact, the "Messier Marathon" is somewhat of a rite of passage for those who are new to the hobby. Astronomy enthusiasts have been known to stay up all night in an attempt to observe all 110 Messier objects before the Sun rises the next morning.

In particular. looking at

Messier Catalog: M81 - M90 we find

M87 Galaxy in Virgo
Common Names: Virgo A
NGC Number: 4486
Visual Magnitude: 8.6
ra: 12h 30.8m
dec: +12° 24'

The constellation Virgo is the site of an elliptical galaxy known as M87. This galaxy is also a member of the famous Virgo cluster of galaxies. It is located about 60 million light-years from Earth and has a diameter of around 120,000 light-years. M87 lies within the heart of the Virgo cluster. It is well known for huge system of globular clusters that can be easily seen on long exposure photographs. This galaxy also features an unusual jet of gaseous material that extends out thousands of light-years. A supernova explosion occurred in this galaxy in 1919 but was not discovered until 1922 when it discovered on photographs of the galaxy.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

It is well known for huge system of globular clusters that can be easily seen on long exposure photographs.

Patience, caterpillar ...