M61 - Barred Spiral Galaxy in Virgo with Stellar Stream

Messier 61 (NGC 4303), a barred spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, lies roughly 50–55 million light-years from Earth. Its classification as SAB(rs)bc reflects an intermediate spiral structure with a modest bar and fairly open arms, and it is known for a significant rate of star formation in its core, making it something of a starburst galaxy.

Recent observations with the Vera Rubin Observatory revealed a narrow, faint stellar stream extending from M61 for about 50 kpc (~163,000 light-years), interpreted as the disruption of a dwarf satellite galaxy. This newly detected tidal feature may be related to past merger activity and could even have played a role in triggering the central starburst.

At the same time, M61 has been studied in molecular gas dynamics: CO interferometry reveals strong gas concentrations at its center, offset ridges along its bar, and shear flows that likely drive vigorous cloud collisions and star formation along the bar. X-ray data also confirm a compact nuclear source consistent with a low-luminosity AGN or LINER, surrounded by star-forming regions.

A bit over 5h of LRGB data acquired on Telescope Live’s older CHI-1-CCD system. The stellar stream was extremely faint to begin with - I used faint structure enhancement technique demonstrated by Adam Block on his YT channel to brighten up this feature.

Sources:

wikipedia.org

science.nasa.gov

scientificamerican.com

messier-objects.com

go-astronomy.com

deepskycorner.ch

theskylive.com

Data credit: Telescope.Live