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.

                                 2021 May 14
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                          M104: The Sombrero Galaxy
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Bray Falls

   Explanation: A gorgeous spiral galaxy, [5]M104 is famous for its nearly
   [6]edge-on profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes. Seen
   in silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars, the swath of
   [7]cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy
   suggesting a more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy. This sharp
   optical view of the well-known galaxy made from ground-based image data
   was processed to preserve details often lost in overwhelming glare of
   M104's bright central bulge. Also known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero
   galaxy can be seen [8]across the spectrum, and [9]is host to a central
   supermassive black hole. About 50,000 light-years across and 28 million
   light-years away, [10]M104 is one of the largest galaxies at the
   southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Still the colorful spiky
   foreground stars in this field of view lie well within our own Milky
   Way galaxy.

                     Tomorrow's picture: over the cliff
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    Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([25]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply.
              [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC
                           & [31]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2105/m104apodsub.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/astrofalls/
   5. http://messier.seds.org/m/m104.html
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010510.html
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190101.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070505.html
   9. https://arxiv.org/abs/1107.1238
  10. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30855
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210513.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210514
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210515.html
  22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  31. http://www.mtu.edu/