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Sombrero Galaxy Compass

Image titled “James Webb Space Telescope; Sombrero Galaxy,” with compass arrows and color key. The galaxy is a very oblong, brownish yellowish disk that extends from left to right at an angle (from about 10 o’clock to 5 o’clock). The galaxy’s center glows white and extends above and below the disk. At the top right is a scale bar labeled 8,500 light-years. The length of the scale bar is about one fifth of the total image. At the bottom left are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The east arrow points toward 10 o’clock. The north arrow points toward 1 o’clock. Below the image is a color key showing which NIRCam filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. From left to right: F090W and F200W are blue, F212N and F277W are green, and F335M and F444W are red.

This image of the Sombrero galaxy, captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), shows compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference. The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. The scale bar is labeled in light-years, which is the distance that light travels in one Earth-year. (It takes 8,000 years for light to travel a distance equal to the length of the scale bar.) One light-year is equal to about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers. This image shows invisible near-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colors. The color key shows which NIRCam filters were used when collecting the light. The color of each filter name is the visible light color used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    12:39:59.42
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -11:37:23.0
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Virgo
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    About 30 million light-years away
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    Image is about 6.0 arcminutes across (52,000 light-years)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    This image was created with Webb data from proposal: 6565 (M. Garcia Marin). Image processing: Alyssa Pagan and Joseph DePasquale (STScI) .

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    NIRCam
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    04 June 2024, 01 January 2025, 21 May 2025
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F090W, F200W, F212N, F277W, F335M, F444W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Sombrero Galaxy, M104
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Edge-on lenticular galaxy
  • Release Date
    June 3, 2025
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Rounds Out Picture of Sombrero Galaxy’s Disk
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Downloads

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Image titled “James Webb Space Telescope; Sombrero Galaxy,” with compass arrows and color key. The galaxy is a very oblong, brownish yellowish disk that extends from left to right at an angle (from about 10 o’clock to 5 o’clock). The galaxy’s center glows white and extends above and below the disk. At the top right is a scale bar labeled 8,500 light-years. The length of the scale bar is about one fifth of the total image. At the bottom left are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The east arrow points toward 10 o’clock. The north arrow points toward 1 o’clock. Below the image is a color key showing which NIRCam filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. From left to right: F090W and F200W are blue, F212N and F277W are green, and F335M and F444W are red.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument. Several filters were used to sample specific wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are:   Blue: F090W+F200W, Green: F212N+F277W, Red: F335M+F444W

Related Images & Videos

Image of a galaxy on the black background of space. The galaxy is a very oblong, brownish yellowish disk that extends from left to right at an angle (from about 10 o’clock to 5 o’clock). Mottled dark brown patches rim the edge of the disk and are particularly prominent where they cross directly in front of the galaxy. The galaxy’s center glows white and extends above and below the disk. There are different colored dots, distant galaxies, speckled among the black background of space surrounding the galaxy. At the bottom right, there is a particularly bright foreground star with Webb’s signature diffraction spikes.

Sombrero Galaxy (NIRCam)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero Galaxy with its NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), which shows dust from the galaxy’s outer ring blocking stellar light from stars within the galaxy.

Two observations of the Sombrero galaxy are split diagonally, with Webb’s near-infrared observation at the left and Webb’s mid-infrared observation on the right. The galaxy is a very oblong disk that extends from left to right at an angle, from about 10 o’clock to 5 o’clock. The galaxy’s core is in the center. In the near-infrared image at left, the galaxy’s center glows white and extends above and below the disk. The outer edge of the disk is mottled brown clumps. In the mid-infrared image, the galaxy is light blue and clumpy, like clouds in the sky. There is an inner disk that is clearer, with speckles of stars scattered throughout. The background of space is black, scattered with tiny dots in a range of colors.

Sombrero Galaxy (NIRCam/MIRI)

The Sombrero galaxy is split diagonally in this image: near-infrared observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are at the left, and mid-infrared observations from Webb are at the right.

Hubble's image of the Sombrero galaxy. A very oblong, pale white disk of stars with a bright center extends from left to right on a black background. The disk is tilted so that the back side appears above the front side. Mottled dark patches rim the edge of the disk and are particularly prominent where they cross directly in front of the galaxy. It resembles a white dinner plate with a dark rim seen from the side, with the back tilted up and to the left slightly. A speckly white glow extends above and below the disk. Foreground stars also scattered across the scene.

Sombrero Galaxy Fade (Visible, Near-Infrared, Mid-Infrared)

This video compares images of the Sombrero galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104). The first image shows visible light observed by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. The second is in near-infrared light and shows NASA's Webb Space Telescope’s look at the...

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Details

Last Updated
Nov 13, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

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