Nov. 25 () –
A new image in the mid-infrared NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104).
The characteristic bright core seen in visible-light images does not glow, revealing a smooth inner disk in its place. The sharp resolution of Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) instrument also highlights the details of the galaxy’s outer ring, providing information about how dust, an essential component of astronomical objects in the Universe, is distributed. The galaxy’s outer ring shows intricate clumps in the infrared for the first time.
Researchers say the lumpy nature of the dust, where MIRI detects carbon-containing molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, may indicate the presence of young regions of star formation, according to a statement from the ESA. However, unlike some galaxies studied with the Webb, including Messier 82, where 10 times more stars are born than in the Milky Way, the Sombrero galaxy is not a particular hotbed of star formation. The rings of the Sombrero galaxy produce less than one solar mass of stars per year, compared to the Milky Way’s approximately two solar masses per year.
The supermassive black hole at the center of the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as the active galactic nucleus (AGN), is quite tame, even with a mass of 9 billion solars. It is classified as a low-luminosity AGN, which slowly devours material falling from the galaxy, while emitting a bright, relatively small jet.
Also within the Sombrero galaxy are some 2,000 globular clusters, a collection of hundreds of thousands of ancient stars bound together by gravity. This type of system serves as a pseudolaboratory for astronomers to study stars: thousands of stars within a system with the same age, but with different masses and other properties, is an intriguing opportunity for comparison studies.
In the MIRI image, galaxies of varied shapes and colors fill the background of space. The different colors of these background galaxies can tell astronomers their properties, including their distance.
The Sombrero galaxy is located about 30 million light years from Earth, in the constellation of Virgo.
Recently, scientists from around the world converged, virtually, to request observation time with Webb during its fourth year of scientific operations, which begins in July 2025.
General observation time with Webb is more competitive than ever. A record 2,377 proposals were submitted before the October 15, 2024 deadline. requesting around 78,000 hours of observation time. This is an oversupply rate, that is, the ratio that defines the hours of observation requested versus the time actually available in a year of Webb operations, of around 9 to 1.
Proposals cover a wide range of scientific topics, with distant galaxies being one of the most requested observing times, followed by exoplanet atmospheres, stars and stellar population, and then exoplanet systems.
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