Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Virgo (Vir)  ·  Contains:  M 104  ·  NGC 4594  ·  Sombrero Galaxy
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The Sombrero Galaxy M104, Paul Huntley
The Sombrero Galaxy M104
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The Sombrero Galaxy M104

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The Sombrero Galaxy M104, Paul Huntley
The Sombrero Galaxy M104
Powered byPixInsight

The Sombrero Galaxy M104

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Description

"The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier Object 104, M104 or NGC 4594) is a peculiar galaxy of unclear classification in the constellation borders of Virgo and Corvus, being about 31.1 million light-years from the Milky Way galaxy. It is a member of the Virgo II Group, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster. It has a diameter of approximately 49,000 light-years), three-tenths the size of the Milky Way.

"It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its outer disk, which is viewed almost edge-on. The dark dust lane and the bulge give it the appearance of a sombrero hat (thus the name). Astronomers initially thought the halo was small and light, indicative of a spiral galaxy; but the Spitzer Space Telescope found that the dust ring was larger and more massive than previously thought, indicative of a giant elliptical galaxy.

"The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +8.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes, and is considered by some authors to be the galaxy with the highest absolute magnitude within a radius of 32M light-years (10 megaparsecs) of the Milky Way. Its large bulge, central supermassive black hole, and dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers."

--Wikipedia

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The Sombrero Galaxy M104, Paul Huntley