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Messier 104, the Sombrero Galaxy
Messier 104, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located within the Virgo constellation. The 50,000 light year-across Sombrero, with a distance of about 29.3 million light years from Earth, is one of the largest galaxies in the Virgo cluster. Messier 104 was first discovered by Pierre Mechain on May 1871 and was written on one of Charles Messier’s personal lists, but was not included on the official published Messier catalogue as M104 until 1921. Since the Sombrero Galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 8-9, it can be observed with 3” aperture telescopes, although details such as the dustlane become apparent with telescopes of 4.5” aperture and greater. Our unique view of the Sombrero Galaxy, which is from 6 degrees south of its equatorial plane, as well as its extremely bright core, make this galaxy one of the most popular and distinguishable objects amongst astronomers. Research of Messier 104 indicates that the galaxy’s center may contain a supermassive black hole that is about 1 billion solar mases. This is the result of four images of the red, blue, green, and luminance filters, all exposed for 120 seconds. They were taken, reduced, and color combined by Stephen Revesz using FIU’s Stocker AstroScience ACE 24” telescope and MIRA Pro.
Messier 104, the Sombrero Galaxy
Messier 104, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located within the Virgo constellation. The 50,000 light year-across Sombrero, with a distance of about 29.3 million light years from Earth, is one of the largest galaxies in the Virgo cluster. Messier 104 was first discovered by Pierre Mechain on May 1871 and was written on one of Charles Messier’s personal lists, but was not included on the official published Messier catalogue as M104 until 1921. Since the Sombrero Galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 8-9, it can be observed with 3” aperture telescopes, although details such as the dustlane become apparent with telescopes of 4.5” aperture and greater. Our unique view of the Sombrero Galaxy, which is from 6 degrees south of its equatorial plane, as well as its extremely bright core, make this galaxy one of the most popular and distinguishable objects amongst astronomers. Research of Messier 104 indicates that the galaxy’s center may contain a supermassive black hole that is about 1 billion solar mases. This is the result of four images of the red, blue, green, and luminance filters, all exposed for 120 seconds. They were taken, reduced, and color combined by Stephen Revesz using FIU’s Stocker AstroScience ACE 24” telescope and MIRA Pro.