Messier 104, the Sombrero Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy of somewhat ambiguous classification straddling the Virgo/Corvus border, often described as intermediate between a spiral and a lenticular galaxy.
Messier 104, the Sombrero Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy of somewhat ambiguous classification straddling the Virgo/Corvus border, often described as intermediate between a spiral and a lenticular galaxy. It lies at a distance of roughly 30 million light-years (estimates commonly range from 28-31 million). Its defining features are an unusually large central bulge, a very bright nucleus (host to a supermassive black hole of roughly a billion solar masses), and a prominent, sharply defined dust lane crossing in front of the disk, which together give it its hat-like silhouette when viewed nearly edge-on. Its high surface brightness makes it a rewarding target even in shorter broadband exposures, though its relatively small apparent size calls for higher magnification/longer focal lengths to resolve the dust lane and bulge structure clearly.
[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombrero_Galaxy]
[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombrero_Galaxy]
M104 The Sombrero Galaxy
Exposure 9@ 300 sec sub frames
ISO 800
Camera Nikon D800 [7360 x 4912]
Optics Prime focus of a 10" Meade SCT f/10, 2500 mm focal length on a Celestron CGEM DX mount.
Location Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date 2018-05-14
Processing Captured using Kstars EKOS 2.9.5 and indilib v1.7.0. Processed in Pixinsight and tweaked in Lightroom.
Exposure 9@ 300 sec sub frames
ISO 800
Camera Nikon D800 [7360 x 4912]
Optics Prime focus of a 10" Meade SCT f/10, 2500 mm focal length on a Celestron CGEM DX mount.
Location Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date 2018-05-14
Processing Captured using Kstars EKOS 2.9.5 and indilib v1.7.0. Processed in Pixinsight and tweaked in Lightroom.
