The story for kids
This is the Sombrero Galaxy. Look, it looks like a hat with a wide brim! In the middle there's a ball of bright stars, and around it, a ring of dark dust.
Facts
- We see it almost from the side, so it looks like a Mexican hat.
- Around it is a ring of dark dust, and in the middle a big ball of bright stars.
- At its centre is a very big black hole, about a billion times heavier than our Sun.
Numbers
- Type
- Spiral (edge-on)
- Distance
- ~31 million light-years
- Diameter
- ~50,000 light-years