Messier 104 (Sombrero Galaxy) - Spiral Galaxy in Corvus
Messier 104 is a Spiral Galaxy in the Corvus constellation. Messier 104 is situated close to the celestial equator and, as such, it is at least partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.
The image below is a photograph of Messier 104 from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5x0.5 degrees (30x30 arcmins).
Key facts about Messier 104
Messier 104 is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom .
Altitude: 26.6°
Azimuth: 172.7°
Direction: South
See also Messier 104 rise and set times.
Given its visual magnitude of 8, Messier 104 is visible with the help of a binocular with a 40-50mm aperture or a small telescope.
Photometric information of Messier 104
The following table lists the magnitude of Messier 104 in different bands of the electomagnetic spectrum (when available), from the B band (445nm wavelength, corresponding to the Blue color), to the V band ( 551nm wavelength, corresponding to Green/Yellow color), to the J, H, K bands (corresponding to 1220nm, 1630nm, 2190nm wavelengths respectively, which are colors not visible to the human eye).
For more information about photometry in astronomy, check the photometric system article on Wikipedia.
The surface brightess reported below is an indication of the brightness per unit of angular area of Messier 104.
Apparent size of Messier 104
The following table reports Messier 104 apparent angular size. The green area displayed on top of the DSS2 image of Messier 104 is a visual representation of it.Messier 104 (Sombrero Galaxy) - Spiral Galaxy in Corvus morphological classification
Messier 104 (Sombrero Galaxy) - Spiral Galaxy in Corvus is classified as Spiral (SAa) according to the Hubble and de Vaucouleurs galaxy morphological classification. The diagram below shows a visual representation of the position of Messier 104 (Sombrero Galaxy) - Spiral Galaxy in Corvus in the Hubble de Vaucouleurs sequence.
Credits for the background image: Antonio Ciccolella / M. De Leo / CC BY
Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Messier 104
Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox of Messier 104 are provided in the following table:
The simplified sky charts below show the position of Messier 104 in the sky. The first chart has a field of view of 60° while the second one has a field of view of 10°.
Rise and set times of Messier 104 from your location
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Messier 104 (Sombrero Galaxy) - Spiral Galaxy in Corvus rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):