domingo, maio 08, 2005

à descoberta do universo, à descoberta de vida



This image released by NASA Thursday May 5, 2005 shows the Sombrero galaxy. The galaxy, called Messier 104, is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light it resembles a broad-brimmed Mexican hat called a sombrero. The new Sombrero picture combines a recent infrared observation from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope with a well- known visible light image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The Sombrero is one of the most massive objects at the southern edge of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. It is equal in size to 800 billion suns. This spiral galaxy is located 28 million light-years away and is 50,000 light-years across. Viewed from Earth, it is just six degrees away from its equatorial plane. (AP Photo/NASA)