Messier 96

Messier 96 is a spiral galaxy located approximately 31 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo. Its coordinates in the sky are right ascension 161.691° and declination 11.820°, and it is catalogued in the Messier.

The light reaching Earth from Messier 96 today left the galaxy roughly 31 million years ago. What you see in telescope imagery is a snapshot of the galaxy as it appeared before most of Earth’s mammalian history.

Through the Galactic Registry, you can symbolically dedicate Messier 96 in a name, memory, or message of your choosing. Your dedication is filed permanently in our public registry and printed on an archival 12″×18″ cotton-stock certificate, shipped worldwide. This is not an official IAU renaming — only the International Astronomical Union can officially name celestial bodies — but it is a permanent symbolic act tied to a galaxy that demonstrably exists, can be pointed at from any observatory on Earth, and has been imaged by NASA, ESA, or a ground-based telescope.