Messier Index/M84

Messier 84 (also known as M84 or NGC 4374) is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Virgo. M84 is situated in the heavily populated inner core of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

Radio observations and images of the Hubble Space Telescope of M84 have revealed two jets of matter shooting out from the galaxy's center as well as a disk of rapidly rotating gas and stars close to the nucleus indicating the presence of a supermassive black hole of 18 M☉ in the galaxy's nucleus.



History
Charles Messier discovered Messier 84 on 18 March 1781 in a systematic search for "nebulous objects" in the night sky. The object is the 84th in the Messier Catalogue.

Supernovae
Two supernovae have been observed in M84: SN 1957 and SN 1991bg. Possibly, a third, SN 1980I is part of M84 or, alternatively, one of its neighboring galaxies, NGC 4387 and M86.