Gems of the sky - The Sombrero galaxy

[glactus]

The beautiful Sombrero galaxy

Some say the most beautiful galaxy in the universe, M104, the Sombrero Galaxy, is a super-giant unbarred spiral in the constellation Virgo.

laying at a distance of appoximately 42 million light years from Earth, the Sombrero galaxy is 11 times bigger than the Milky Way with a diameter between 120,000 and-130,000 light years. Apparent magnitude is 9, easily accessible to the amateur Astronomer.

It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The large bulge, the central supermassive black hole, and the dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.

This galaxy is of type Sa-Sb, with both a big bright core, and well-defined spiral arms. It also has an unusually pronounced bulge with an extended and richly populated globular cluster system - several hundred can be counted in long exposures from big telescopes.

While we marvel at the beauty of this stunning galactic structure, we may wonder as to how many planetary systems abound, and if life is in abundance in these worlds beyond the beyond.



Credits: Image by NASA

[Andy Mac]

Certainly a lovely galaxy which can be seen even from the city with most amateur-sized telescopes - although with its southerly declination, it never rises very high as seen from UK latitudes. Its appearance very much gives rise to its popular name of the 'Sombrero galaxy'.

At this time of year, M104 is in conjunction with the Sun and is hence out of view. Best observed in Spring (or autumn for southern hemisphere latitudes).