M 104
The Sombrero Galaxy
Host to a central supermassive black hole
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A gorgeous spiral galaxy, M104 is famous for its nearly edge-on profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes. Seen in silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars, the swath of cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy suggesting a more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy. This sharp optical view of the well-known galaxy made from ground-based image data was processed to preserve details often lost in overwhelming glare of M104’s bright central bulge. Also known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero galaxy can be seen across the spectrum, and is host to a central supermassive black hole. About 50,000 light-years across and 28 million light-years away, M104 is one of the largest galaxies at the southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Still the colorful spiky foreground stars in this field of view lie well within our own Milky Way galaxy.
For more information—and for those interested in booking the observatory for remote astrophotography sessions—details can be found at baader-os.com.
M 104 in the constellation Virgo
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Data acquisition with
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Technical card
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| Object | M 104 |
| Imaging telescopes | PlaneWave CDK1000 |
| Imaging camera | Moravian C5A-100M |
| Focal Reducer | – |
| Mount | PlaneWave CDK1000 |
| Guiding | – |
| Filter | Baader Luminance, Red, Green, Blue (50x50mm) |
| Accessories | Baader Instrument Multi Port IMP85, PlaneWave Series-5 Focuser & Rotator |
| Integration | 60 hours (Lum: 600×180″, Red: 200×180″, Green: 200×180″, Blue: 200×180″) |
| Dates of recording | Between January 2026 and March 2026 |
| AstroBin | Link |
M104 PRINT & RAW DATA
Now available for purchase in 3 different sizes. Premium Fuji Crystal prints with a gloss finish. Fuji C-Type paper guarantees excellent detail, contrast and color accuracy.
Download of the fully calibrated data set now available!
