Sombrero Galaxy dazzles in new Webb image

This slider tool features two views of the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104). The Sombrero galaxy is around 30 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo.

This image on the left shows the view of the famous Sombrero Galaxy in mid-infrared light The James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) reveals the smooth inner disk of the galaxy. The image on the right shows the image as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in visible light from 2010, which shows the large and extended glow of the central bulge of stars.

Both the Webb and Hubble images resolve the clumpy nature of the dust that makes up the Sombrero galaxy’s outer ring.