M98 is an intermediate spiral galaxy, showing both barred and non-barred features. It is significantly inclined at 74 degrees, but still shows structure in this image. It is around 45 million lightyears distant and approximately 125,000 lightyears in diameter, so somewhat larger than our galaxy.
While M98 subtends almost 10 arcminutes, the small spiral to the lower right (NGC 4186) is only 1.4 arcminutes in size. There are a number of other fainter galaxies scattered across this image.
This image is the result of 5h 30m of RGB data capture from Horsham, over 6 evenings in March and April 2025. A ZWO ASI2600 MM Pro camera was used, through an 8-inch Teleskop-Service Ritchey-Chretien reflector.
Date: 04/04/2025
Location: Horsham, West Sussex
Photographer: Graham Wilcock
