M61 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies . Visible in M61 are a host of features common to spiral galaxies : bright spiral arms , a central bar , dust lanes , and bright knots of stars. M61 , also known as NGC 4303 , in similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy . M61 was discovered by telescope in 1779 twice on the same day, but one observer initially mistook the galaxy for a comet. Light from M61 takes about 60 million years to reach us. Recent observations of M61 have detected unpredicted high velocity gas moving in its halo.
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Credit: Z. Frei (Eotvos) & J. Gunn (Princeton), Palomar Obs. Copyright: Princeton University Press