![]() Slipher discovered that the hat-like object appeared to be rushing away from us at 700 miles per second. In the 19th century, some astronomers speculated that M104 was simply an edge-on disk of luminous gas surrounding a young star, which is prototypical of the genesis of our solar system. X-ray emission suggests that there is material falling into the compact core, where a 1-billion-solar-mass black hole resides. Embedded in the bright core of M104 is a smaller disk, which is tilted relative to the large disk. The ages of the clusters are similar to the clusters in the Milky Way, ranging from 10-13 billion years old. Hubble easily resolves M104's rich system of globular clusters, estimated to be nearly 2,000 in number - 10 times as many as orbit our Milky Way galaxy. The galaxy is 50,000 light-years across and is located 28 million light-years from Earth. The Sombrero lies at the southern edge of the rich Virgo cluster of galaxies and is one of the most massive objects in that group, equivalent to 800 billion suns. This brilliant galaxy was named the Sombrero because of its resemblance to the broad rim and high-topped Mexican hat.Īt a relatively bright magnitude of +8, M104 is just beyond the limit of naked-eye visibility and is easily seen through small telescopes. We view it from just six degrees north of its equatorial plane. As seen from Earth, the galaxy is tilted nearly edge-on. The galaxy's hallmark is a brilliant white, bulbous core encircled by the thick dust lanes comprising the spiral structure of the galaxy. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has trained its razor-sharp eye on one of the universe's most stately and photogenic galaxies, the Sombrero galaxy, Messier 104 (M104). Four Successful Women Behind the Hubble Space Telescope's Achievements.Characterizing Planets Around Other Stars.Measuring the Universe's Expansion Rate.Located approximately 25 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), the Whirlpool's beautiful face-on view and closeness to Earth allow astronomers to study a classic spiral galaxy's structure and star-forming processes. The Whirlpool is one of astronomy's galactic darlings. Bright blue star clusters emerge from the mayhem, illuminating the Whirlpool's arms like city streetlights. The largest stars eventually sweep away the dusty cocoons with a torrent of radiation, hurricane-like stellar winds, and shock waves from supernova blasts. These dense clouds collapse, creating a wake of star birth, as seen in the bright pink star-forming regions. The dark dusty material looks like gathering storm clouds. When the waves pass through orbiting gas clouds within the disk, they squeeze the gaseous material along each arm's inner edge. The waves are like ripples in a pond generated when a rock is thrown in the water. The small galaxy has been gliding past the Whirlpool for hundreds of millions of years.Īs NGC 5195 drifts by, its gravitational muscle pumps up waves within the Whirlpool's pancake-shaped disk. ![]() Hubble's clear view, however, shows that NGC 5195 is passing behind the Whirlpool. At first glance, the compact galaxy appears to be tugging on the arm. Some astronomers believe that the Whirlpool's arms are so prominent because of the effects of a close encounter with NGC 5195, the small, yellowish galaxy at the outermost tip of one of the Whirlpool's arms. In the Whirlpool, the assembly line begins with the dark clouds of gas on the inner edge, then moves to bright pink star-forming regions, and ends with the brilliant blue star clusters along the outer edge. They are star-formation factories, compressing hydrogen gas and creating clusters of new stars. These arms serve an important purpose in spiral galaxies. Many spiral galaxies possess numerous, loosely shaped arms that make their spiral structure less pronounced. The Whirlpool's most striking feature is its two curving arms, a hallmark of so-called grand-design spiral galaxies. The galaxy is nicknamed the Whirlpool because of its swirling structure. This sharpest-ever image, taken in January 2005 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the NASA/ ESA Hubble Space Telescope, illustrates a spiral galaxy's grand design, from its curving spiral arms, where young stars reside, to its yellowish central core, a home of older stars. They are actually long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust. The graceful, winding arms of the majestic spiral galaxy M51 (NGC 5194) appear like a grand spiral staircase sweeping through space.
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