Spark and Perl go looking
It has got a stripe!
We are looking at this one edge-on, and the stripe is its own dust.
Why is dust in a line?
Because it lies flat, in a disc.
A pancake or a pie, seen from the side, is a line.
Have we got one?
We are sitting in ours.
It is why the Milky Way looks patchy.
Then every galaxy is a stripe.
Only the edge-on ones.
…They are all discs. A stripe only means we are sitting level with it.
The round ones are the same thing, seen from above.
Same disc. We are just looking from somewhere else.
Yes.
In spring, low in the southern sky.
You can see this from anywhere in the world.
Where to find the Sombrero Galaxy (M104), and when
Where the Earth is clear, it climbs high in the sky. The darker it gets, the lower it stays. Where it is black, it never comes up. No shading at all: it does not matter where you live.
What do I need to see the Sombrero Galaxy (M104)?
Binoculars with 10× magnification show it, if you rest them on a fence or a wall.
A 150 mm telescope is what shows it properly. This picture is about 100× — which is what that telescope gives on a good night.
At that magnification it drifts out of view while you watch.
Compact and bright, for a galaxy, so it is easier to find than most.
Space
Eyes, binoculars, or telescope?
Read on
Go and look