Sombrero Galaxy

Constellation           Virgo

Right ascension         12h 39m 59.4s

Declination             -11° 37' 23"

Apparent dimension (V)  8'.7 × 3'.5

Apparent magnitude (V)  8.98

Type                    SA(s)a

Helio Radial velocity   1024 ± 5 km/s

Redshift                0.003416 ± 0.000017

Galactocentric Velocity 904 ± 7 km/s

Distance                29.3 ± 1.6 Mly (9.0 ± 0.49 Mpc)

The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as M104 or NGC 4594) is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. 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. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 9.0, making it a galaxy that can easily be seen with amateur telescopes. The large bulge, the central supermassive black hole, and the dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.