This is one of the Messier objects that wasn't discovered by Messier himself but, in this case, by Pierre Méchain in 1780. Apparently both Messier and William Herschel described this object as a star cluster but of course nowadays we know this to be a galaxy. As a matter of fact, it is a Seyfert galaxy of type 2. Again, background on Seyfert galaxies can be found in an earlier OOTW article of mine.
Visually this galaxy was classified several times as a non-barred spiral galaxy that shows several ring-like structures. However, infrared observations do show a prominent bar and that's why Wikipedia claims that it is classified as a barred spiral now. However, Simbad mentions nothing related to bars in the classifications of this galaxy. Simbad does however classify this galaxy as an AGN, an X-ray source, a gamma ray source, a variable source and also as a galaxy in a pair of galaxies. Unfortunately Simbad doesn't really state which is the other galaxy in the pair but there turns out to be an NGC 1068 Group.
M 77 is notoriously difficult for beginning observers. The fact that it is in the Messier list gives it a false pretense to be an easy object but due to its Seyfert nature this is far from true. This galaxy requires a dark sky for anything more to be visible than its core and when observed from less than optimal conditions this makes it a very unimpressive object.
However, observed from a very dark location with a reasonably big telescope reveals a stunning spiral galaxy. My own observing notes from over 9 years ago with my 20” telescope from a dark location read
“At 160x a bright core with a faint halo. Spiral arms are visible in the faint halo. Very impressive!”
Not much more was logged by me. I wonder what you have made of this beautiful galaxy and if anyone has been able to identify any of the knots in the arms or the faint outer ring.
As always,
"Give it a go and let us know!
Good luck and great viewing!"
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