This page describes an image Sombrero galaxy
Caption: This prominent galaxy M 104 is often called the Sombrero galaxy due to its resemblance to the Mexican hat. This look is created by the thin disk oriented nearly edge-on, which appears illuminated by the dominant bulge. Both, the disk and bulge contain stars, but the stars in the bulge tend to be older, while the disk also harbors large amounts of dust and gas creating shadows. M 104 is located in the constellation Virgo approximately 50 light-years away. While some of the dots visible in the picture are foreground stars and others background galaxies, the majority are actually globular clusters, dense massive clusters of stars, associated with the Sombrero Galaxy.
Captions in other languagesCredit:
ESO/P. Barthel Credit Link
Related glossary terms:
Disk Galaxy
, Galaxy
Categories:
Galaxies
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
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Captions in Different Languages:
Caption: M104, un galassia molto appariscente, è spesso chiamata galassia Sombrero per la sua somiglianza con il cappello messicano. Questo aspetto è creato dal sottile disco orientato quasi di taglio, che appare illuminato dal rigonfiamento centrale, dominante. Sia il disco che il rigonfiamento contengono stelle, ma le stelle nel rigonfiamento tendono a essere più vecchie, mentre il disco ospita anche grandi quantità di polvere e gas che creano ombre. M104 si trova nella costellazione della Vergine, a circa 50 anni luce di distanza dalla Terra. Anche se alcuni dei punti visibili nell'immagine sono stelle in primo piano e altri galassie di sfondo, la maggior parte sono in realtà ammassi globulari, cioè enormi e densi ammassi di stelle, associati alla Galassia Sombrero.
Credit: ESO/P. Barthel
Related glossary terms: Galassia , Galassia a disco Caption translation status: Approved by a reviewer
Caption translators: Giuliana Giobbi
Caption reviewers: Rosa Valiante, Rodolfo Canestrari, Anna Wolter
