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Messier 104 is the first Messier object that was not included in Charles Messier’s first catalogue. This object was discovered by his friend Pierre Méchain in 1781 and Messier added it, by hand, in his own copy of his catalogue. It was “officially” added to the Messier catalogue in 1921. M 104 is a spiral galaxy with a huge central bulge and 1,200 to 2,000 globular clusters. An immense black hole (estimated at 1 billion solar masses) lies in the center of this galaxy. This is the needed mass to hold stable the complete structure that this galaxy shows. This galaxy shows, in very deep images, an extended halo with some star streams.
Additional Information
Object
Name(s): M 104. NGC 4594. The “Sombrero” Galaxy
Type: Unbarred Spiral Galaxy
RA: 12h 39m 59s
Dec: -11º 37’ 23”
Constellation: Virgo
Size (arcmin): 8.7×3.5
Magnitude: +9.0
Distance: 30 Mly
Image
Date: 2017-02-24 thru 2017-03-03
Location: iTelescope.net, SSO near Coonabarabran, NSW Australia
Size (arcmin): 25.2×22.4
Telescope: Planewave CDK 20” f/6.8
Camera: SBIG STX16803 (4096x4096pix)
Guiding: Astrodon MonsterMOAG off-axis guider
Total exposure: 11 hours (L: 5 hours; R: 2h; G: 2h; B: 2h)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CC 2017