Transition video: Hubble and Webb’s views of the Sombrero Galaxy

This video 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.

The famous Sombrero Galaxy in mid-infrared light as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) reveals the smooth inner disc of the galaxy. The image as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in visible light from 2010 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.