Here is an interesting field of galaxies in the constellation Virgo. The brightest is Messier 49, an elliptical galaxy. It is perhaps five times larger than our Milky Way galaxy and about 60 million light years distant. Since elliptical galaxies have no discernable structure, they just appear as fuzzy blobs.
The very pretty spiral galaxy NGC 4535 that we see nearly face-on has two prominent arms arranged like the letter S. It is a little closer, about 50 million light years distant.
NGC 4519 is another spiral, about 60 million light years distant. NGC 4526 is also a spiral, but viewed somewhat more edge on, so it looks a little like a sausage with pinched ends. It is also about 50 million light years away.
Fainter NGC 4818 is another spiral, as are NGC 4470, and NCG 4492. The latter is something like 107 million light years away, so it shows little structure in a telescope this small. NGC 4488, another spiral is only 26 million light years away.
M49 and neighbors
A little closer view of NGC 4535
