The Hubble Space Telescope is celebrating its 35th anniversary by releasing stunning new photographs of the iconic Sombrero Galaxy. Located about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, the galaxy’s unique angle from Earth offers a spectacular view. The image features the galaxy’s supermassive black hole at its center, which weighs approximately 9 billion times the mass of our Sun.
The Sombrero Galaxy is one of the heaviest objects in the Virgo cluster, with a massive stellar mass of around 800 billion and an enormous size spanning over 105,000 light-years. This behemoth galaxy has attracted numerous companions, including 2,000 globular clusters, many of which can be observed with amateur telescopes.
Hubble’s latest image showcases the galaxy’s spiral and elliptical features, although they are less noticeable due to its unique orientation. The image is a composite of several images captured by Hubble and other telescopes, as the galaxy is too large to fit within the telescope’s field of view.
The release of these stunning images highlights the enduring power of space exploration and the continued impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on our understanding of the universe.
Source: https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-new-version-of-the-sombrero-galaxy-taken-by-hubble