M104: The Sombrero Galaxy

Astronomy Picture of the Day · 1997-02-08 · NASA (public domain)

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M104: The Sombrero Galaxy — APOD for 1997-02-08

Explanation : The famous Sombrero galaxy (M104) is a bright nearby spiral galaxy . The prominent dust lane and halo of stars and globular clusters give this galaxy its name. Something very energetic is going on in the Sombrero 's center, as much X-ray light has been detected from it. This X-ray emission coupled with unusually high central stellar velocities cause many astronomers to speculate that a black hole lies at the Sombrero's center - a black hole a billion times the mass of our Sun .

Astronomy Picture of the Day for 1997-02-08 — image & explanation courtesy of NASA (public domain), mirrored at Tukuk-OS for reading and search convenience.

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