Sombrero Galaxy
A galaxy seen almost edge on, a dark lane of dust across its bright core like the brim of a hat.
Tonight from
Rise, highest point and set are worked out on your device for the place above.
What it is
- Kind of object
- Galaxy
- Distance
- 29.8 million light years
- Brightness
- Magnitude 8.0, a sight for binoculars
- Size in the sky
- About a quarter of the width of the full Moon
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Catalogue
- M 104, NGC 4594
Figures from OpenNGC, CC BY-SA 4.0; the SEDS Messier catalogue, via Wikipedia’s table of Messier objects, CC BY-SA 4.0. All sources
Near it in the sky
- SpicaA blue-white main-sequence star in Virgo, about a fist away.
- Virgo AA galaxy in Virgo, about a hand span away.
- DenebolaA white main-sequence star in Leo, about a hand span away.
- Centaurus AA galaxy in Centaurus, about two hand spans away.
- Black Eye GalaxyA galaxy in Coma Berenices, about two hand spans away.