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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

🌌 NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

M104: The Sombrero Galaxy Credit:

Date: 1997-02-08

M104: The Sombrero Galaxy
Credit:

View HD Image

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.