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Credit & Copyright: T. A. Rector
(U. Alaska Anchorage),
D. de Martin (NSFÁs
NOIRLab) &
M. Zamani
(NSF, NOIRLab)
Explanation:
A gorgeous spiral galaxy,
Messier 104 is famous
for its nearly edge-on
profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes.
Seen in silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars,
the swath of cosmic dust lends a
broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy suggesting
a more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy.
Also known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero galaxy can be seen
across the spectrum and
is host to a central
supermassive black hole.
About 50,000 light-years across and 28 million light-years away,
M104 is one of the
largest galaxies at the southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster.
Still, the spiky foreground stars in this field of view
lie well within our own Milky Way.
This broad
view of the well-known galaxy was processed to reveal M104's
extended halo, as well as a faint
tidal stellar stream.
It was captured by the
Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4-meter telescope
at the Cerro Tololo
Inter-American Observatory.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy
Publications with words: spiral galaxy
See also:
- APOD: 2026 April 5 Á NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy
- APOD: 2026 March 16 Á NGC 1566: The Spanish Dancer Galaxy
- Webb and Hubble: IC 5332
- APOD: 2026 February 4 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: Wide Field
- Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 from Webb
- IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
- NGC 253: Dusty Island Universe