Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
M104: The Sombrero Galaxy
Explanation:
What's going on in the center of this spiral galaxy [ http://www.astronom…]? Named the Sombrero Galaxy [ http://www.seds.org…] for its hat-like resemblance, M104 [ http://www.astr.ua.…] features a prominent dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] lane and a bright halo of stars and globular clusters [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Something truly energetic is going on in the Sombrero's center, as it not only appears bright in visible light, but glows prodigiously in X-ray [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] light as well. This X-ray emission [ http://adsabs.harva…] coupled with unusually high central stellar speeds cause many astronomers to speculate that a black hole [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] lies at the Sombrero's center [ http://adsabs.harva…] - a black hole possibly a billion times the mass of our Sun.
keyword:
galaxy
keyword:
M104
facet_where:
Ohio
facet_where:
M104
facet_where:
Sombrero Galaxy
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Visible Light
original url:
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap990815

M104: The Sombrero Galaxy