China Lake Astronomical Society (ChinaLakeAstro.org)

The Sombrero Galaxy (M104), California

The Sombrero Galaxy (M104)
Ridgecrest, California   –   March 10, 2026
— Dan Price
ASI6200mm Pro   *   Celestron EdgeHD 11"   *   f/10

From Google - 

The Sombrero Galaxy (M104) was discovered on May 11, 1781, by French astronomer Pierre Méchain.

28 - 31 million light years from Earth.  Roughly 50,000 light year in diameter, about half the size of the Milky Way.

The center hosts an extremely massive black hole (~ 1 - 9 billion solar masses), making it thousands of times more massive than the one in our galaxy.

M104 contains a massive system of nearly 2,000 globular clusters, significantly more than the Milky Way.

Photo ID: M104