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Floating near the edge of the constellation Virgo, in its own small group of galaxies, lies a truly unique marvel: the iconic Sombrero Galaxy. Resembling a celestial hat tipped against the deep blackness of space, it offers a stunning contrast in cosmic beauty. A vast, brilliantly glowing central bulge, filled with ancient stars, radiates an almost ethereal luminescence—a luminous heart shining across millions of light-years. The galaxy's defining feature is a broad lane of galactic dust that sharply cuts across this radiant core, forming a shadowy brim that conceals the deeper structures within. This striking combination of bright core and dark lane creates an unforgettable portrait of galactic structure, where light and shadow intertwine, inviting us to reflect on the elegant forms of the universe.
ZOOM IN: My image consists of 800 subs collected over four nights with two-hour sessions each night.
Challenge Target #2: M104 - The Sombrero Galaxy
Challenge Target #2: M104 - The Sombrero Galaxy
Next on our Galaxy Season Challenge roster is a true stunner: the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104. This galaxy is remarkably bright, with a magnitude of around 8.0, making it an enjoyable sight even through smaller telescopes and a fantastic target for astrophotographers. Although it is classified as a spiral galaxy, its expansive glowing bulge and intriguing system of globular clusters have sparked interest among astronomers. They wonder if it might conceal secrets about a more complex past, potentially involving major mergers. The Sombrero Galaxy is a captivating and elegant sight, making it an excellent challenge target before it dips too low in the western sky later this season!
At the heart of M104, a LINER-type galaxy, lies an enormous supermassive black hole with a mass exceeding one billion times that of our Sun. Adding to the mystery of its true nature is the galaxy's remarkable collection of globular clusters. While the Milky Way contains about 150 of these ancient stellar systems, estimates for the Sombrero Galaxy suggest there are between 1,200 and over 2,000 globular clusters! This abundance is more characteristic of giant elliptical galaxies, raising speculation about M104's potentially tumultuous history, which may involve galactic mergers.
Interestingly, while the Sombrero Galaxy is instantly recognizable today, it had a slightly delayed entry into the official Messier list. Discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, Messier documented it in his personal records but was only formally added to the list in the 20th century. In addition to the bright bulge and dusty disk that are easily visible, the Sombrero also has a vast, faint stellar halo, which indicates its true extent. This entire structure is moving away from us at over 1,000 kilometers per second, propelled by the universe's expansion!
M104 Quick Facts:
Common Name: Sombrero Galaxy
Messier Designation: M104
NGC Designation: NGC 4594
Other Designations: UGC 7824, PGC 42407
Constellation: Virgo (near Corvus border)
Type: Spiral Galaxy (Type Sa/Sb), LINER AGN
Distance: Approx. 31 million light-years
Apparent Magnitude: ~ +8.0
Apparent Size: ~ 8.7' x 3.5' (arcminutes)
The extent of the stellar halo is apparent in this black and white rendition of my capture.
Locate M104 in your sky tonight with Stellarium Online:
Locate M104 in your sky tonight with Stellarium Online:
More about M104 at Wikipedia & NASA
More about M104 at Wikipedia & NASA
About My shot
About My shot
My capture of M104 is the result of a dedicated multi-night effort with my DWARF 3. Data was collected over four separate nights, with each night providing two hours of exposures, totaling 8 hours as the Sombrero Galaxy as it crossed its peak in the spring sky.
The telescope was in Equatorial (EQ) mode and I used the built-in Astro filter. On each of the four nights 220 30-second exposures at 60 gain were captured under favorable conditions with minimal moonlight interference, as the Moon rose late. No AI enhancement was applied by the telescope. The raw .fit files obtained from the DWARF 3 were then stacked and processed using SIRIL software, resulting in a high-quality .png file.
For post-processing in Photoshop, the stars were first removed using RC Astro's StarXterminator. The starless galaxy image was then treated with GradientXterminator and NoiseXterminator, followed by careful sharpening with TopazDeNoiseAI. Final adjustments to color and contrast were made in Lightroom. Separately, the stars were minimized using StarShrink and Adobe's Minimize filter before being recombined with the processed galaxy image.
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