Cosmic Scale
Sombrero Galaxy
Spiral galaxy, seen almost edge-on · 31 million light-years
How big is Sombrero Galaxy?
Sombrero Galaxy is about 49,000 light-years across.
See Sombrero Galaxy in 3D, at true scale
The Sombrero Galaxy is a spiral seen almost edge-on, with a huge glowing bulge crossed by a dark lane of dust — like a wide-brimmed hat. At its centre is a black hole of about a billion Suns.
At a glance
| Diameter | 49,000 light-years |
|---|---|
| Mass | 1.59 × 10⁴² kg |
| Diameter compared with Earth | 3.6 × 10¹³ × Earth |
| Distance | 31 million light-years |
| Size | About 49,000 light-years |
| Also known as | M104 |
| Central black hole | About 1 billion Suns |
Good to know
- It has around 2,000 globular star clusters, ten times as many as the Milky Way.
- Webb's infrared view shows the dust ring clumpy and the bulge nearly invisible.
- It is bright enough to see in a small telescope in Virgo.
- Next smaller: Large Magellanic Cloud · 32,200 light-years
- Next larger: Triangulum Galaxy · 61,100 light-years