{"id":791497,"date":"2024-11-26T16:47:02","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T21:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=791497"},"modified":"2024-11-26T16:47:02","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T21:47:02","slug":"the-sombrero-galaxy-as-youve-never-seen-it-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=791497","title":{"rendered":"The Sombrero Galaxy as you\u2019ve never seen it before"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nThe Webb Space Telescope took this new image of the Sombrero galaxy (M104), which ESA and NASA released on November 25, 2024. Image via NASA\/ ESA\/ CSA\/ STScI.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Sombrero galaxy in infrared<\/h3>\n
The James Webb Space Telescope, which explores the universe in infrared light, has a new view of an old favorite: the Sombrero galaxy. ESA and NASA released this image of the Sombrero Galaxy (M104) \u2013 which lies 30 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo \u2013 on November 25, 2024. Webb\u2019s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) lets us see past the blinding brightness and the finer dust to the inner core region and speckles of stars. Webb, like Hubble, sees dust in the outer ring, but reveals how it is distributed in intricate clumps.<\/p>\n
The Sombrero Galaxy is not a place of especially active star formation. And the supermassive black hole at the galaxy\u2019s core \u2013 what astronomers call an active galactic nucleus, or AGN \u2013 is, despite its mass, what ESA calls \u201crather docile.\u201d <\/p>\n
The 2025 EarthSky lunar calendar makes a great gift. Get yours today!<\/p>\n
By the numbers<\/h3>\n
The Sombrero galaxy produces less than one solar mass of stars per year. The Milky Way\u2019s star production is about twice that high, but both galaxies have mostly already converted their gas and dust into stars. Compare that to the starburst galaxy M82, which sees 10 to 20 times more stars born per year than the Milky Way and Sombrero. <\/p>\n
The supermassive black hole at the center of the Sombrero galaxy has the mass of about 9 billion solar masses. This is on the heavier end, as far as supermassive black holes go. And the Sombrero is home to some 2,000 globular clusters, or massive balls of stars held together in a spherical clump by their own gravity.<\/p>\nThe Hubble Space Telescope image of M104, or the Sombrero galaxy. Compare this view to the infrared image from Webb above. Image via ESA\/ Hubblesite\/ Wikimedia Commons (public domain).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
See it for yourself<\/h3>\n
The Sombrero Galaxy is located on the southeastern border of Virgo the Maiden near the constellation Corvus the Crow. Without a doubt, M104 is a stunning galaxy in photographs. Even better, at magnitude 8.3, you can see it in small telescopes. It\u2019s an edge-on, dusty spiral galaxy with a bright core.<\/p>\n
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What you get for $1,000, $1,000,000,000 and $10,000,000,000<\/p>\n
#astronomy<\/p>\n
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\u2014 Kumar S (@starryknightone.bsky.social) November 25, 2024 at 11:56 PM<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Bottom line: The Webb Space Telescope has delivered a stunning view of the Sombrero galaxy, M104, in infrared. See it here and read more about it.<\/p>\n
Via ESA<\/p>\n
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Kelly Kizer Whitt<\/h4>\n
View Articles\n <\/p><\/div>\n
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About the Author:<\/h6>\n
Kelly Kizer Whitt – EarthSky\u2019s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube – writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She’s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"Edge-on](\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2022\/04\/M104-Sombrero-Galaxy-Wikimedia-Commons-e1651164098587.jpg\")