Today’s photos are of the Sombrero Galaxy (M104/NGC5494). It is an unbarred spiral galaxy found in the constellation Virgo. It is 29 to 32,000,000 light years from Earth and from our position is observed nearly edge on. It has three distinct features – a bright nucleus, a large central bulge and a central dust lane or ring which circles the bulge. Together these give the impression of a sombrero. The large central bulge contains at its centre a massive black hole, one of the largest so far detected. The dust ring consists of hydrogen gas and dust and is thought to be the primary site of star formation within the galaxy.
Photos taken using Bradford Robotic telescope
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