Sombrero Galaxy
Where is the Sombrero Galaxy?
Below the horizon after dark tonight in Virgo. Rises 07:39.
- Rises
- 07:39
- Highest
- 12:45
- Sets
- 17:47
- Best after dark
- —
Can I see the Sombrero Galaxy tonight?
From London tonight, the Sombrero Galaxy isn’t above the horizon while the sky is dark. It rises at 07:39 and sets at 17:47, in daylight or twilight.
At magnitude 8.6, with its light spread out, it needs a telescope and a dark sky.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does the Sombrero Galaxy look like?
Eyes
Not visible.
Binoculars
Under dark skies, a tiny, faint elongated glow.
Telescope
A bright oval with a central bulge. With 150 mm or more, the dark dust lane is visible as a thin line across the glow.
About the Sombrero Galaxy
The Sombrero Galaxy is seen nearly edge-on, with a bright central bulge and a dark lane of dust along its disk that gives it the look of a wide-brimmed hat.
It is about 30 million light-years away and contains a supermassive black hole at its center. It also has an unusually large number of globular clusters.
The Sombrero was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and later added to the Messier list. Its central black hole is estimated at around a billion times the mass of the Sun.
In 1912, Vesto Slipher measured the Sombrero moving away from us at about 1,000 km per second, one of the first clues that galaxies are receding and the universe is expanding.
It is surrounded by a large population of globular clusters, perhaps around 2,000.
The Sombrero is best placed on spring evenings from mid-northern latitudes, when Virgo is in the south.
Nearby in the sky
Questions
Can I see the Sombrero’s dust lane?
Sources: OpenNGC (CC BY-SA 4.0); star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences