Zoom video: Sombrero Galaxy

This video takes the viewer on a journey through space to the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104).

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero galaxy with its MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument), resolving the clumpy nature of the dust along the galaxy’s outer ring.

The mid-infrared light highlights the gas and dust that are a feature of the star formation taking place among the Sombrero galaxy’s outer disc. The rings of the Sombrero galaxy produce less than one solar mass of stars per year, in comparison to the Milky Way’s roughly two solar masses a year. It’s not a particular hotbed of star formation.

The Sombrero galaxy is around 30 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo.

More information and download options: http://esawebb.org/videos/weic2427b/

Credit:
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m, DSS 2, The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb), R. Gendler and J.-E. Ovaldsen, E. Slawik, N. Risinger & M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)

Music: Tonelabs – The Red North (www.tonelabs.com)