Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature
> Sombrero galaxy seen in infrared
Sombrero galaxy seen in infrared
author: Nasa/JPL/Caltech/Novapix
reference: a-gax45-94004
Image Size 300 DPI: 25 * 14 cm
This spiral galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. The infrared image obtained by Spitzer space telescope in 2004 and 2005 pierces through the obscuring dust, along with the bulge of stars. It shows that the disk is warped, which is often the result of a gravitational encounter with another galaxy; clumpy areas spotted in the far edges of the ring indicate young star-forming regions. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun.
Contact : Stéphane Aubin +33-(0)9-51-26-53-76
© Novapix - All rights reserved