Black Eye Galaxy: The Cosmic Beauty with a Dark Streak

The Black Eye Galaxy (M64) is famous for its dark band of dust across a bright starry core.
It lies about 17 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices.
M64 spans roughly 54,000 light-years—about half the size of the Milky Way.
The dark streak is a dense lane of dust silhouetted against its glowing nucleus.
Its unusual nickname, the “Evil Eye Galaxy,” comes from this striking appearance.
Stars in its outer disk rotate opposite to those in its inner regions—a cosmic oddity.
This counter-rotation may have formed when M64 absorbed a smaller galaxy.
The galaxy shines with the light of billions of stars, despite its shadowy streak.
Its mix of beauty and mystery makes it a favorite target for both astronomers and astrophotographers.
Studying M64 helps reveal how galactic mergers shape structure and motion in the universe.