Black Eye Galaxy

space · galaxies · dust

Has a dark eye. The Black Eye Galaxy gets its cool nickname from a thick band of dark dust that sits in front of its bright center, making it look like it has a black eye, evil eye, or is sleeping. This dust blocks light from behind it, creating that dramatic appearance.

Easy to spot. Amateur astronomers love observing the Black Eye Galaxy because you can see its distinctive shape through a small telescope from almost anywhere on Earth. It's one of the most famous galaxies for backyard stargazers.

Super far away. The Black Eye Galaxy is about 17 million light-years from Earth, which means the light you see from it today left that galaxy 17 million years ago. That's an incredible distance, but it's still close enough for us to observe it.

Found three times. Three different astronomers discovered the Black Eye Galaxy around the same time in 1779 to 1780, including Edward Pigott, Johann Bode, and Charles Messier. No one knew the others were looking, so they each got to claim the discovery.

Spiral shaped. Like our own Milky Way, the Black Eye Galaxy is a spiral galaxy, meaning it has curved arms of stars that spin around a central bulge. This shape helps astronomers understand how galaxies form and change over time.