SPECTACULAR and really far away and a little Avatar

I've always loved this picture. I remember in 1767 when it was first discovered. That was quite a year for those of us stranded on the planet Earth.

The Sombrero Galaxy

Wikipedia information on The Sombrero Galaxy

Distance

At least two methods have been used to measure the distance to the Sombrero Galaxy.

The first method relies on comparing the measured fluxes from planetary nebulae in the Sombrero Galaxy to the known luminosities of planetary nebulae in the Milky Way. This method gave the distance to the Sombrero Galaxy as 29.0 ± 2.0 Mly (8.9 ± 0.6 Mpc).^[1]

The other method used is the surface brightness fluctuations method. This method uses the grainy appearance of the galaxy's bulge to estimate the distance to it. Nearby galaxy bulges will appear very grainy, while more distant bulges will appear smooth. Early measurements using this technique gave distances of 30.6 ± 1.3 Mly (9.4 ± 0.4 Mpc).^[25] Later, after some refinement of the technique, a distance of 32 ± 3Mly (9.8 ± 0.8 Mpc) was measured.^[26] This was even further refined in 2003 to be 29.6 ± 2.5 Mly (9.1 ± 0.8 Mpc).^[2]

The average distance measured through these two techniques is 29.3 Mly (9.0 Mpc) with an uncertainty of 1.6 Mly (0.5 Mpc).^[a]

IT'S SO INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT ACTUAL DISTANCE ISN'T STATED BUT TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT IT IS REALLY REALLY FAR AWAY

MORE INFO FROM WIKIPEDIA

Nucleus

The nucleus of the Sombrero galaxy is classified as a low ionization nuclear emission region (LINER).^[12] These are nuclear regions where ionized gas is present, but the ions are only weakly ionized (i.e. the atoms are missing relatively few electrons). The source of energy for ionizing the gas in LINERs has been debated extensively. Some LINER nuclei may be powered by hot, young stars found in star formation regions, whereas other LINER nuclei may be powered by active galactic nuclei (highly energetic regions that contain supermassive black holes). Infrared spectroscopyobservations have demonstrated that the nucleus of the Sombrero Galaxy is probably devoid of any significant star formation activity. However, a supermassive black hole has been identified in the nucleus (as discussed in the subsection below), so thisactive galactic nucleus is probably the energy source that weakly ionizes the gas in the Sombrero Galaxy.^[8]

[edit]Central supermassive black hole

In the 1990s, a research group led by John Kormendy demonstrated that asupermassive black hole is present within the Sombrero Galaxy.^[13] Usingspectroscopy data from both the CFHT and the Hubble Space Telescope, the group showed that the speed of rotation of the stars within the center of the galaxy could not be maintained unless a mass 1 billion times the mass of the Sun, or 10⁹M_☉, is present in the center.^[13] This is among the most massive black holes measured in any nearby galaxies.

THE MOST MASSIVE BLACK HOLE MEASURED IN ANY NEARBY GALAXY. SO FUNNY HOW THEY USE THE TERM NEARBY.

Discovery

The Sombrero Galaxy was discovered in March of 1767 by Pierre Méchain, who described the object in a May 1767 letter to J. Bernoulli that was later published in theBerliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch.^[5][6] Charles Messier made a hand-written note about this and five other objects (now collectively recognized as M104 - M109) to his personal list of objects now known as the Messier Catalogue, but it was not "officially" included until 1921.^[6] William Herschel independently discovered the object in 1784 and additionally noted the presence of a "dark stratum" in the galaxy's disc, what is now called a dust lane.^[5][6] Later astronomers were able to connect Méchain's and Herschel's observations.^[6]

HOW WERE THESE GUYS DISCOVERING ANYTHING? HOW BIG WERE THEIR TELESCOPES COMPARED TO PRESENT EQUIPMENT?

SO MANY QUESTIONS

SO MUCH SPACE TO OBSERVE

And in Copenhagen nobody can agree on how to solve our own personal problems regarding the environment.

That's why looking into Space is so cool.......

Discovery after discovery!

It's nice to know that someone like James Cameron,who is a fellow human being, can create his own world and somehow bring that vision to the screen.

AVATAR is a spectacular visual experience

Something akin to the Sombrero Galaxy and a lot closer to home......like just down the street and around the corner.

Michael Timothy McAlevey