Sombrero Galaxy
Unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo
AI overview
The Sombrero Galaxy is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo, named for its distinctive hat-like appearance created by a prominent dark dust band across its middle. It is one of the most recognizable galaxies visible from Earth and serves as an important object for astronomers studying galaxy structure and composition.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier Object 104, M104 or NGC 4594) is a peculiar galaxy of unclear classification in the constellation borders of Virgo and Corvus, being about 9.55 megaparsecs (31.1 million light-years) from the Milky Way galaxy. It is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster. It has an isophotal diameter of approximately 29.09 to 32.32 kiloparsecs (94,900 to 105,000 light-years), making it slightly larger than the Milky Way.
It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its outer disk, which from Earth is viewed almost edge-on. The dark dust lane and the bulge give it the appearance of a sombrero hat. Astronomers initially thought the halo was small and light, indicative of a spiral galaxy; but the Spitzer Space Telescope found that the halo was significantly larger and more massive than previously thought, indicative of a giant elliptical galaxy.