Messier 88 (also known as M88 or NGC 4501) is a spiral galaxy about 50 to 60 million light-years away from Earth[3][4][5] in the constellation Coma Berenices.

M88 is one of the fifteen Messier objects that belong to the nearby Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

Its motion through the intergalactic medium of its cluster is creating, as expected, ram pressure that is stripping away the outer region of neutral hydrogen.

[10] M88 is classified as a type 2 Seyfert galaxy, which means it produces narrow spectral line emission from highly ionized gas in the nucleus.

[11] In the core region there is a central condensation with a 230 parsec diameter, which has two concentration peaks.