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NASA's Great Observatories Composite of Sombrero Galaxy
This is a Great Observatory view of the famous Sombrero galaxy using the Chandra, Hubble and Spitzer telescopes. The far left figure shows the composite image and the three images to its right show the separate observatory views. The Chandra X-ray image (blue) shows hot gas in the galaxy and point sources that are a mixture of galaxy members and background objects. The Hubble optical image (green) shows a bulge of starlight partially blocked by a rim of dust. The Spitzer image (red) shows the rim of dust glowing in the infrared and a central bulge of stars.
(Credit: X-ray: NASA/UMass/Q.D.Wang et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI/AURA/Hubble Heritage; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. AZ/R.Kennicutt/SINGS Team)
This is a Great Observatory view of the famous Sombrero galaxy using the Chandra, Hubble and Spitzer telescopes. The far left figure shows the composite image and the three images to its right show the separate observatory views. The Chandra X-ray image (blue) shows hot gas in the galaxy and point sources that are a mixture of galaxy members and background objects. The Hubble optical image (green) shows a bulge of starlight partially blocked by a rim of dust. The Spitzer image (red) shows the rim of dust glowing in the infrared and a central bulge of stars.
(Credit: X-ray: NASA/UMass/Q.D.Wang et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI/AURA/Hubble Heritage; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. AZ/R.Kennicutt/SINGS Team)
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Chandra X-ray Image of the Sombrero Galaxy
The Sombrero galaxy lies at the southern edge of the Virgo cluster of galaxies and is one of the most massive objects in that group, equivalent to about 800 billion suns. This Chandra X-ray image of Sombrero (a.k.a. M104) shows hot gas in the galaxy and point sources that are a mixture of galaxy members and background objects. In this image, Chandra low energy X-rays (0.3-1.5 keV) are color-coded orange and high energy X-rays (1.5-7.0 keV) are in blue. The Chandra image shows hot gas in the Sombrero galaxy and point sources that are a mixture of galaxy members and background objects.
(Credit: NASA/UMass/Q.D.Wang et al.)
The Sombrero galaxy lies at the southern edge of the Virgo cluster of galaxies and is one of the most massive objects in that group, equivalent to about 800 billion suns. This Chandra X-ray image of Sombrero (a.k.a. M104) shows hot gas in the galaxy and point sources that are a mixture of galaxy members and background objects. In this image, Chandra low energy X-rays (0.3-1.5 keV) are color-coded orange and high energy X-rays (1.5-7.0 keV) are in blue. The Chandra image shows hot gas in the Sombrero galaxy and point sources that are a mixture of galaxy members and background objects.
(Credit: NASA/UMass/Q.D.Wang et al.)
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Hubble Optical Image of the Sombrero Galaxy
As seen from Earth, the Sombrero galaxy is tilted nearly edge-on. This brilliant galaxy was named the Sombrero because of its resemblance to the broad rim and high-topped Mexican hat. The Hubble optical image shows a bulge of starlight partially blocked by a rim of dust. The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image. One of the largest Hubble mosaics ever assembled, this magnificent galaxy has an apparent diameter that is nearly one-fifth the diameter of the full moon.
More information at Hubble
(Credit: NASA/STScI/AURA/Hubble Heritage)
As seen from Earth, the Sombrero galaxy is tilted nearly edge-on. This brilliant galaxy was named the Sombrero because of its resemblance to the broad rim and high-topped Mexican hat. The Hubble optical image shows a bulge of starlight partially blocked by a rim of dust. The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image. One of the largest Hubble mosaics ever assembled, this magnificent galaxy has an apparent diameter that is nearly one-fifth the diameter of the full moon.
More information at Hubble
(Credit: NASA/STScI/AURA/Hubble Heritage)
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Spitzer Infrared Image of the Sombero Galaxy
The Sombrero galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun. The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features.
More Information at Spitzer
(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. AZ/R.Kennicutt/SINGS Team)
The Sombrero galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun. The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features.
More Information at Spitzer
(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. AZ/R.Kennicutt/SINGS Team)
Return to Sombrero Galaxy (30 Apr 07)
Revised: June 07, 2022