Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Virgo (Vir)  ·  Contains:  M 104  ·  NGC 4594  ·  Sombrero Galaxy
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M104  - Sombrero Galaxy, Massimo Di Fusco
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M104 - Sombrero Galaxy

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M104  - Sombrero Galaxy, Massimo Di Fusco
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M104 - Sombrero Galaxy

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Description

The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier 104, M104 or NGC 4594) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation borders of Virgo and Corvus, being about 31.1 million light-years from us and having a diameter of approximately 49000 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. 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.

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