The Spiral Galaxy M104

The Spiral Galaxy M104
From the National Optical Astronomical Observatories
M104 (NGC 4594), is a spiral galaxy, type Sa/Sb, in the constellation Virgo, popularly known as the Sombrero Galaxy due to its dark rim of obscuring dust around a large central bulge. The dust shows up as brown due to its absorption of blue light (an effect known as reddening), while the bulge has been reduced in significance by compressing the dynamic range of the data, better to show the inner details.
Image Title: The Spiral Galaxy M104

Credit: Todd Boroson/AURA/NOAO/NSF
The text is based on accompanying on-line materials.

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 Last Modified On: Sunday, December 17, 2000