Spiral Galaxy M90
			
		
		
			Bill Keel (University of Alabama)
1.1-meter Hall Telescope, Lowell Observatory
		
		
			Spiral galaxy M90 
is near the center of the 
Virgo Cluster of Galaxies - the
closest cluster of galaxies to the our own 
Milky Way Galaxy.  Also dubbed
NGC 4569, this galaxy has a very compact and bright nucleus. Because of 
M90's proximity and motion inside the Virgo Cluster, 
M90 
actually shows a blueshift - indicating that it is moving toward us
rather than away. Most 
galaxies show a 
redshift which indicates that
they move away from us.  Calibrating exactly how redshift relates to
distance would indicate a scale for our universe - a topic of much debate
recently.