FILE: Using data from NASA’s Hubble and Webb space telescopes, astronomers and artists modeled the iconic Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16 or M16) in three dimensions, creating a movie that allows viewers to fly past and among the pillars.
As the Hubble Space Telescope approaches 35 years since its launch, marking over three decades of incredible images of the universe and science, NASA and its partner, the European Space Agency, are revisiting some of the spacecraft’s most striking work.
The first installment in the 35th anniversary series is the famous Messier 104 galaxy, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy. This time around, using new processing techniques, the galaxy is revealed in greater detail with more background stars and galaxies.
NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the Sombrero Galaxy, also called Messier 104.
(NASA)
The Sombrero Galaxy is about 30 million light-years away within the constellation Virgo. Its most recognizable feature is its Mexican hat-like shape, hence the Sombrero nickname. But this galaxy is no hat hanging on a wall. The sharp line of the brim is created as one solar mass of gas is converted into stars, making the looping, dusty disk.
According to NASA, the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole is 2,000 times more massive than the Milky Way’s at nine billion solar masses.
THE BEST EVIDENCE FOR LIFE OUTSIDE OUR SOLAR SYSTEM JUST GOT STRONGER
NASA’s other powerful space telescopes, including the retired Spitzer Space Telescope and its new James Webb Space Telescope in 2024, have studied the Sombrero Galaxy. Each uses different imaging techniques to capture the galactic wonder in a new light.
In 1990, NASA sends the Hubble Space Telescope into space.
(NASA)
NASA and the ESA will continue to release more images this year to celebrate Hubble’s 35th anniversary. The telescope, sometimes called “The People’s Telescope,” launched on April 24, 1990.