{"id":628467,"date":"2026-04-24T19:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628467\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T19:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:19:11","slug":"570-megapixel-dark-energy-camera-captures-the-sombrero-galaxy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628467\/","title":{"rendered":"570-Megapixel Dark Energy Camera Captures the Sombrero Galaxy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AMessier 104, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy, as captured by the NSF\u2019s Dark Energy Camera. Click here for the full-resolution 725MB version<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera<\/a> turned its 4-meter telescope toward Messier 104, better known as the Sombrero Galaxy, and captured an exceptional side-on view of the galaxy, sometimes called \u201cthe Universe\u2019s dusty brimmed hat.\u201d <\/p>\n

Messier 104, or the Sombrero Galaxy, is a very popular target among amateur astronomers. Located 30 million light-years from Earth, the glowing galaxy is an impressive 50,000 light-years across. It is among the largest objects in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, NSF\u2019s NOIRLab explains<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cIts alluring visual characteristics, coupled with its accessibility to amateur equipment, contribute to Messier 104\u2019s popularity among stargazers,\u201d NSF writes. \u201cAmateur astronomers often enjoy observing and photographing the Sombrero Galaxy, making it a prime target for citizen science projects and public outreach efforts.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"AA selected crop of the Dark Energy Camera\u2019s new photo of the Sombrero Galaxy <\/p>\n

The Sombrero Galaxy is also a compelling target for scientists. The video below shows how various space telescopes, including Spitzer, Hubble, and the James Webb Space Telescope, have imaged the Sombrero Galaxy. The Dark Energy Camera is located on Earth, at the U.S. National Science Foundation\u2019s Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIts intricate system of globular star clusters lends insight into stellar populations, and astronomers are intrigued by the supermassive black hole at its center,\u201d NSF says. <\/p>\n

Thanks to the Dark Energy Camera\u2019s 570-megapixel CCD image sensor, scientists can investigate the Sombrero Galaxy in intricate detail. <\/p>\n

\"AThe Dark Energy Camera | Credit: NSF, NOIRLab \"A\u2018The V\u00edctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope has pristine access to wide open skies of the Chilean Andes from its perch at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. To the upper left of the telescope is the \u2018evening star\u2019, actually the planet Venus. Below on the left are the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope and SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope (furthest back).\u2019 | Credit: CTIO\/NOIRLab\/NSF\/AURA\/T. Matsopoulos <\/p>\n

\u201cAt its core is an intensely bright nucleus, which is surrounded by a swarm of around 2000 globular star clusters. A thin, dark band of cold dust and hydrogen gas traces the perimeter of the disk, where most of the galaxy\u2019s star formation takes place,\u201d NSF writes. <\/p>\n

Also visible in the new image is the galaxy\u2019s glowing halo, which extends to about three times the width of the Sombrero Galaxy itself. NOIRLab believes this is the first time the galaxy\u2019s halo has been captured with this level of detail and at this expansive scale. <\/p>\n

The Dark Energy Camera isn\u2019t just super high-resolution, it\u2019s also highly sensitive. Thanks to its sensitivity, the camera also captured a \u201csweeping stellar stream\u201d that extends from the southern side of the galaxy. The halo and this stellar stream are home to stars that have been \u201ctorn from their home galaxies,\u201d which suggests that perhaps there was a galactic merger between the Sombrero Galaxy and a smaller satellite galaxy in the distant past. <\/p>\n

Image credits: CTIO\/NOIRLab\/DOE\/NSF\/AURA, Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage\/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Messier 104, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy, as captured by the NSF\u2019s Dark Energy Camera. Click here…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,228581,304630,23340,304631,179036,10567,128,304632,285],"class_list":{"0":"post-628467","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-darkenergycamera","11":"tag-decam","12":"tag-galaxy","13":"tag-messier104","14":"tag-noirlab","15":"tag-nsf","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-sombrerogalaxy","18":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}