APOD: 2024 November 26 Б The Sombrero Galaxy from Webb and Hubble
Explanation:
This floating ring is the size of a galaxy.
In fact, it is a galaxy -- or at least part of one: the photogenic
Sombrero Galaxy
is one of the largest galaxies in the nearby
Virgo Cluster of Galaxies.
The dark band of
dust that obscures the mid-section of the
Sombrero Galaxy in visible light (bottom panel) actually glows brightly in infrared light (top panel).
The featured image shows the
infrared
glow in false blue, recorded recently by the space-based
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and released yesterday,
pictured above an
archival image taken by
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in
visible light.
The Sombrero
Galaxy, also known as
M104, spans about 50,000
light years and lies 28 million light years away.
M104
can be seen with a small telescope in the direction of the
constellation Virgo.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
