Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2022 April 23 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Messier 104 Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing & Copyright: [6]Ignacio Diaz Bobillo Explanation: A gorgeous spiral galaxy, [7]Messier 104 is famous for its nearly [8]edge-on profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes. Seen in silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars, the swath of [9]cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy suggesting a more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy. [10]This sharp view of the well-known galaxy was made from over 10 hours of [11]Hubble Space Telescope image data, processed to bring out faint details often lost in the overwhelming glare of M104's bright central bulge. Also known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero galaxy can be seen [12]across the spectrum, and [13]is host to a central supermassive black hole. About 50,000 light-years across and 28 million light-years away, [14]M104 is one of the largest galaxies at the southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Still, the spiky foreground stars in this field of view lie well within our own Milky Way. Tomorrow's picture: just press the button __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC & [35]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2204/M104_HST_final2_4096.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.esa.int/ 5. https://hla.stsci.edu/ 6. http://www.pampaskies.com/gallery3/index.php 7. http://messier.seds.org/m/m104.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010510.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190101.html 10. http://www.pampaskies.com/gallery3/Deep-Space-Objects/M104_HST_final_small 11. https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/happy-32nd-birthday-to-hubble 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070505.html 13. https://arxiv.org/abs/1107.1238 14. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30855 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220422.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220423 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220424.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 35. http://www.mtu.edu/