Sombrero Galaxy (MIRI Image)
About This Image
Caption
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero Galaxy with its MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), resolving the clumpy nature of the dust along the galaxy’s outer ring.
The mid-infrared light highlights the gas and dust that are part of star formation taking place within the Sombrero Galaxy’s outer disk. The rings of the Sombrero Galaxy produce less than one solar mass of stars per year, in comparison to the Milky Way’s roughly two solar masses a year. It’s not a particular hotbed of star formation.
The Sombrero Galaxy is around 30 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo.
About The Object
- Object Name
- Sombrero Galaxy, M104
- Object Description
- Edge-on lenticular galaxy
- R.A. Position
- 12:39:59.42
- Dec. Position
- -11:37:23.0
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance
- About 29 million light-years away
- Dimensions
- Image is about 7.2 arcminutes across (60,000 light-years)
About The Data
- Data Description
- This image was created with Webb data from proposal: 6565 (M. Garcia Marin). Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI).
- Instrument
- MIRI
- Exposure Dates
- 7 June 2024
- Filters
- F770W, F1130W, F1280W
About The Image
- Color Info
- These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the MIRI instrument. Several filters were used to sample wide wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F770W, Green: F1130W, Red: F1280W
- Compass and Scale Image
-
About The Object
- Object Name
- A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
- Object Description
- The type of astronomical object.
- R.A. Position
- Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
- Dec. Position
- Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
- Constellation
- One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
- Distance
- The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
- Dimensions
- The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
- Data Description
- Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
- Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
- Instrument
- The science instrument used to produce the data.
- Exposure Dates
- The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
- Filters
- The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
- Color Info
- A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
- Compass and Scale Image
- An astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.
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