Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Pegasus (Peg)  ·  Contains:  IC 5381  ·  NGC 7814
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NGC 7814 & SN 2021 rhu - Little Sombrero and its Supernova, Massimo Di Fusco
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NGC 7814 & SN 2021 rhu - Little Sombrero and its Supernova

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NGC 7814 & SN 2021 rhu - Little Sombrero and its Supernova, Massimo Di Fusco
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NGC 7814 & SN 2021 rhu - Little Sombrero and its Supernova

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Description

NGC 7814 is sometimes called the Little Sombrero for its resemblance to the brighter more famous M104, the Sombrero Galaxy. Both Sombrero and Little Sombrero are spiral galaxies seen edge-on, and both have extensive halos and central bulges cut by a thin disk with thinner dust lanes in silhouette. In fact, NGC 7814 is some 40 million light-years away and an estimated 60,000 light-years across. That actually makes the Little Sombrero about the same physical size as its better known namesake, appearing smaller and fainter only because it is farther away. In this view, NGC 7814 is hosting a newly discovered supernova, cataloged as SN 2021rhu, the stellar explosion has been identified as a Type Ia supernova, useful toward calibrating the distance scale of the universe.

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