M 58 is part of the famous Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It is one of the brightest galaxies in this cluster. Distance about 68 million light years. Diameter 133,000 light years. Apparent size 5.9'x4.7'. Since 1779, it was possibly (though unknown at the time) the most distant known astronomical object, until the publication of the New General Catalogue in the 1880s.
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