M64 = NGC4826 ( 12h 56.7m +21°41´, 8.5 mag. )
Black Eye Galaxy in Coma Berenices was discovered by Bode in April 1779 and Messier observed it on March 1, 1780.
M64 is a very unusual-looking spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Coma Berenices. This is the famous Blackeye galaxy. It has also been called the Sleeping Beauty galaxy.
M64, the Black Eye Galaxy
M64 (NGC 4826) is known as the Black Eye Galaxy because of its prominent dark dust lane in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus. It is relatively nearby, at around 17 million light years away from Earth.
M64, the Black Eye Galaxy, is a bright (8.5) compact spiral one degree east-northeast of 35 Comae. The "black eye" can only be seen under ideal conditions with large telescopes. The galaxy is over 20 million light years away.
M64 (NGC 4826, Black Eye Galaxy)
M74 (NGC 628, spiral galaxy)
M76 (NGC 650, Little Dumbbell Nebula)
M80 (NGC 6093, globular cluster)
M81 (NGC 3031, spiral galaxy)
M82 (NGC 3034, companion to M81)
M87 (NGC 4486, elliptical galaxy) ...
A lane of light-absorbing dust creates a "black eye" for M64, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices. The dust may come from the scattered remnants of another galaxy that rammed into M64 millions of years ago.
February's image is of the spiral galaxy M64, AKA NGC 4826 AKA the Black Eye Galaxy. 17 million light-years from us, M64 lies in the constellation Coma Berenices; this image covers approximately 1.5 arcminutes across (7400 light-years).
Several cases have been reported in ellipticals (Franx and Illingworth 1988 APJLett 327, L55; Bertola and Bettoni 1988 ApJ 329, 102), S0's (NGC 4550, Rubin et al. 1992 ApJL 394, L9), and even the disk of the spiral NGC 4826=M64 (Braun et al.
One of the most famous of the galaxies in this constellation is the Black Eye Galaxy, M64. It got its name from the dark patch of dust near its center. Telescopes with 150 mm aperture and higher and good optics show this "eye in the galaxy".
The following objects are located within Our Supercluster but not within the Local Group; they are objects 100,000,000 light-years to 10,000,000 light-years from the Sun: M49, M51, M58, M59, M60, M61, M63, M64, M65, M66.
 See also: Galaxy, Dust, Constellation, Star, Galaxies
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