The Majestic Sombrero Galaxy
by Ricky Barnard
Title
The Majestic Sombrero Galaxy
Artist
Ricky Barnard
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as M104 or NGC 4594) is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo located 28 million light years from Earth. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. Astronomers initially thought that the halo was small and light, indicative of a spiral galaxy. But Spitzer found that halo around the Sombrero Galaxy is larger and more massive than previously thought, indicative of a giant elliptical galaxy. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +9.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes. The large bulge, the central supermassive black hole, and the dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.
Credit NASA and ESA.
Uploaded
November 15th, 2012
Statistics
Viewed 21,317 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/19/2024 at 12:56 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Similar Images
Comments (46)
Recently Viewed
