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DECam's New Image of the Sombrero Galaxy: A Portrait of Ancient Mergers

Universe Today·Evan Gough·about 1 month ago
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The Sombrero Galaxy is so picture perfect it looks like a painting. It sits in space as if its hung on a gallery wall. It's an iconic deep space object, and a popular target for amateur and professional astronomers alike. The Sombrero Galaxy, aka Messier 104 and NGC 4594, is recognizable from its swollen central bulge, extended halo, and the dramatic dusty streak in its outer ring. New images from the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope capture the galaxy in exquisite detail. DECam is a 570-megapixel camera, and was the world's largest camera until the Vera Rubin Observatory began observations. Iits high-resolution brings the Sombrero Galaxy into view. The iconic galaxy is about 31 million light-years away and is part of the Virgo II Groups . It can't be seen with the naked eye, but can be viewed with a small telescope or binoculars. The Sombrero Galaxy's central bulge, or nucleus, is disproportionately large compared to its disk, and helps create the profile of a hat.…

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