(also known as M 104 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its 6 degree inclined disk1
. 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 easily visible with amateur telescopes. The large bulge, the central supermassive black hole, and the dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.
In the 1990s, a research group led by John Kormendy demonstrated that a supermassive black hole is present within the Sombrero Galaxy. Using spectroscopy data the group showed that the speed of revolution of the stars within the center of the galaxy could not be maintained unless a mass 1 billion timesthe mass of the Sun is present in the core. This is among the most massive black holes measured in any nearby galaxies.
||29.3 Million Light Years
||12h 39m 59.4s
||11 37' 23"
||M104, NGC 4594, PGC 42407