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The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope captured a new, detailed image of the Sombrero Galaxy (M104) in mid-infrared wavelengths.
This view highlights the galaxy's smooth inner disk and shows how clumpy gas is distributed in the outer ring, providing more details about its structure.
Sombrero Galaxy (M104)
The galaxy has a distinct edge-on view with a brilliant, white, bulbous core surrounded by thick dust lanes that form its spiral structure.
The dust lanes in the outer region of the galaxy are active sites for star formation.
The Sombrero Galaxy has nearly 2,000 globular clusters, which is 10 times more than in the Milky Way. These clusters are 10-13 billion years old.
A one-billion-solar-mass black hole resides at the core of the galaxy, with material falling into it, as indicated by X-ray emissions.
Located 28 million light-years away in the Virgo constellation, M104 is not visible to the naked eye but can be spotted with small telescopes, especially in May.
The galaxy has a mass of 800 billion suns, making it one of the most massive in the Virgo galaxy cluster.
Discovered in 1781 by French astronomer Pierre Méchain, a colleague of Charles Messier.
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