صورة اليوم الفلکیة
M104: The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared
Image Credit:
NASA,
JPL,
Caltech,
SSC,
R. Kennicutt
(Steward Obs.) et al.,
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,
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 actually
glows brightly in
infrared light.
The featured image, digitally
sharpened, shows the
infrared glow, recently recorded by the orbiting
Spitzer Space Telescope, superposed in false-color on an
existing 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.