M104, Sombrero Galaxy
The Sombrero Galaxy, Messier 104 or NGC4594, is a galaxy in the constellation Virgo, about 29.35 million light-years away. Discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, it has a bright nucleus, a prominent central bulge and a sharply defined dust disc. Seen edge-on, it takes on the shape of a sombrero and has an apparent diameter of 8.7 arcminutes. It is an early-type Sa-Sb spiral galaxy with a magnitude of 8.0; it is not visible to the unaided eye but can easily be detected with small telescopes.
General information
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Category
- Galaxies
- Date
- 22 April 2025
Capture
- Total time
- 4 h 27 min
- Subframes
- 40 × CLS, 19 × R, 15 × G and 15 × B at 180 s, bin 1
- Gain / Offset
- 125 / 30
- Calibration
- 50 library dark frames, 40 flat frames and 40 dark-flat frames; without bias frames
Equipment
- Telescope
- TS102 f/5.6
- Camera
- ASI294MM at -10 ºC
- Filters
- CLS, R, G and B Astronomik, 36 mm
- Mount
- Sky-Watcher Wave 150i
- Guiding
- Guide scope 60 mm f/4 + ASI224MC + PegasusAstro UCH + PPBMicro with PHD2
- Focuser
- ZWO EAF
- Filter wheel
- ZWO EFW 7pos
Processing and environment
- Processing
- Stacked and post-processed with PixInsight 1.8.9-3
- Acquisition
- NINA
- Location
- l'Ampolla, Tarragona
- Sky
- Bortle 4