M87 AS A RADIO GALAXY

F. Owen, NRAO, with J. Biretta, STSCI, & J. Eilek, NMIMT,

M87 is a giant elliptical galaxy at the dynamical center of the nearby Virgo cluster. It is one of the strongest radio sources in the sky. Its radio structure has been studied on scales ranging from 50 kpc (50,000 light years; (the largest extent of the source) down to 0.08 pc (1/4 light year, about 100 times larger than the central black hole). Its distance from earth is approximately 17 Mpc (50 million light years). We have organized these pages by region and by physical scale : each connecting page has larger versions of the images and a discussion of the source on that scales.

The radio halo The inner lobes
The jet The entire source
(large image, may be slow)

PRESS RELEASE; American Astronomical Society Meeting, 7 January 1999