M104

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Chandra X-ray
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M104: A spiral galaxy, also known as M104, in the Virgo cluster about 28 million light years away.
(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)

Caption: This Great Observatories view of the famous Sombrero galaxy was made using Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer. The main figure shows the combined image from the three telescopes, while the inset images show the separate observatory views. Chandra's X-ray image (in blue) shows hot gas in the galaxy and point sources that are a mixture of objects within the galaxy and quasars in the background. Hubble's optical image (green) reveals the bulge of starlight partially blocked by a rim of dust, which glows brightly in Spitzer's infrared view.

Scale: Image is 8.4 arcmin per side.

Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS Image

CXC operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
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