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M85 - the strangest Messier object?
M85 is arguably the weirdest of the Messier Objects.
While the central part of this object resembles an elliptical galaxy, its outer parts are very strange indeed.
Despite this, amateurs rarely image M85 due to the mistaken view that elliptical and S0 galaxies are "featureless".
I might eventually share my large collection of M85 images with IceInSpace.......there is no such thing as a "typical" appearance for an M85 image, as this galaxy has such a complex internal structure!
The outer asymmetric features of M85 mean that it cannot easily be shoehorned into any specific Hubble class, though if one is forced to put it somewhere in the orthodox Hubble Sequence, it is probably closest to an S0 galaxy in its appearance.
M85 is, in fact, of a galaxy type that is actually NOT in the orthodox Hubble Sequence. There would probably be several hundred galaxies to B=14 magnitude that share this distinction of not really fitting any known Hubble type!
But M85 does fit well into my personal "Rogues Gallery" of galaxies that have a morphology that is indicative of them having undergone a merger between galaxies.
cheers, Madbadgalaxyman
While the detail within E and S0 galaxies is invariably of low contrast, it can be very intricate and interesting; professional astronomers often resort to subtracting a smooth Model image from the actual image in order to show features that are only slightly brighter than the diffuse background light of a galaxy.
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