John Chumack _Observatories
M104sombrero
M104 Edge on Spiral Galaxy
The Sombrero Galaxy aka Messier Object 104, M104 or NGC 4594 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo located 28 million light-years or 8.6 Mega-parsecs from Earth. The galaxy has a diameter of approximately 50,000 light-years, 30% the size of the Milky Way. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +9.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes, Based on its brightness & distance, it's considered by some Astronomers to be the brightest galaxy within a radius of 10 Mega-parsecs of the Milky Way. In the large central bulge, the central super-massive black hole, and the dust lane attract the attention of professional astronomers. It was nicknamed the Sombrero Galaxy as visually through the telescope it resembles a Mexican Sombrero! This is a 18 x 5 minute subs, 90 Minute total exposure with a QHY8 CCD camera and my home made 16" Newt. scope. Despite the heavy moisture and being low on the horizon at my site, it turned out okay.
Best Regards,
John Chumack
M104sombrero
M104 Edge on Spiral Galaxy
The Sombrero Galaxy aka Messier Object 104, M104 or NGC 4594 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo located 28 million light-years or 8.6 Mega-parsecs from Earth. The galaxy has a diameter of approximately 50,000 light-years, 30% the size of the Milky Way. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +9.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes, Based on its brightness & distance, it's considered by some Astronomers to be the brightest galaxy within a radius of 10 Mega-parsecs of the Milky Way. In the large central bulge, the central super-massive black hole, and the dust lane attract the attention of professional astronomers. It was nicknamed the Sombrero Galaxy as visually through the telescope it resembles a Mexican Sombrero! This is a 18 x 5 minute subs, 90 Minute total exposure with a QHY8 CCD camera and my home made 16" Newt. scope. Despite the heavy moisture and being low on the horizon at my site, it turned out okay.
Best Regards,
John Chumack