Astronomy Picture of the Day -- The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared

NASA ^ | March 11, 2012 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: This floating ring is the size of a galaxy. In fact, it is part of the photogenic Sombrero Galaxy, one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. The dark band of dust that obscures the mid-section of the Sombrero Galaxy in optical light actually glows brightly in infrared light. The above image, digitally sharpened, shows the infrared glow, recently recorded by the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope, superposed in false-color on an existing image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in optical light. The Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104, spans about 50,000 light years across and lies 28 million light years away. M104 can be seen with a small telescope in the direction of the constellation Virgo.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: R. Kennicutt (Steward Obs.) et al., SSC, JPL, Caltech, NASA]

[SunkenCiv]

Wow.

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[U-238]

I like infrared astronomy because we get to see objects or phenomena that we cannot see with our eyes or with visible light telescopes.

[bimboeruption]

I think it looks more like a halo than a sombrero.

[running_dog_lackey]

If I lived in that galaxy I’d be pissed that someone across the universe was calling it a sombrero.

[ponygirl]

¡Ai Caramba!

[ArchAngel1983]

I agree, that’s a halo. If people can’t see the hand of God in these extraordinary photos of the cosmos, they’re simply not looking.

[Gene Eric]

>> and lies 28 million light years away.

Meaning it took 28 million years for the galaxies emitted light to reach our telescopes?

Amazing how we have a virtual window into the past.

[left that other site]

“WOW!”

I second that emotion.

[bigheadfred]

Here's another shot that shows the large center bulge that apparently gives more of an impression of a sombrero.