Galaxies

A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias (γαλαξίας), literally "milky", a reference to the Milky Way galaxy.Galaxies contain varying amounts of star systems, star clusters and types of interstellar clouds. In between these objects is a sparse interstellar medium of gas, dust, and cosmic rays. Dark matter appears to account for around 90% of the mass of most galaxies. Observational data suggests that supermassive black holes may exist at the center of many, if not all, galaxies

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Sombrero Galaxy - M104

The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier Object 104, M104 or NGC 4594) is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellationVirgo located 28 megalight-years (8,600 kpc) from Earth. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. Astronomers initially thought that the halo was small and light, indicative of a spiral galaxy. But Spitzer found that halo around the Sombrero Galaxy is larger and more massive than previously thought, indicative of a giant elliptical galaxy.. The large bulge, the central supermassive black hole, and the dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.

Telescope: GSO – RC10
Camera: ATIK 4000
Mount: Astrophysics Mach1 GTO
Filters: LRGB
Total exposure: 7h
Localtion : Near Gythion Lakonia / Greece

Sombrero Galaxy M104

celestialpixels

Galaxies