{"release":{"id":"DR1","released_on":"2026-08-21","doi":null,"url":"https://spacecatalog.org/releases#dr1"},"epoch":{"requested":"now","label":"J2026.665","julian_year":2026.665,"time":"2026-08-31T19:02:02.198Z","years_from_j2000":26.665,"frame":"date","applied":"Proper motion, then precession and nutation. The catalogued J2000 position is carried along the great circle the object's own published motion puts it on, at a constant velocity, and the result is referred to the true equator and equinox of this instant. Those are separate things: the motion moves the object, and the rotation turns the grid under it by about fifty arcseconds a year, with nutation adding up to another seventeen.","excluded":"Parallax, the radial-velocity perspective term, aberration and refraction; each is below the accuracy of the catalogued positions themselves. An object with no published proper motion comes back where the catalogue has it rather than at a fabricated zero, and says so with a null pm_ra_mas_yr. A body with no fixed position is not propagated at all — its place comes from an ephemeris, which is what /api/v1/visible answers with."},"slug":"m104","name":"Sombrero Galaxy","class":"spiral_galaxy_sa","category":"galaxy","object_type":"Spiral galaxy Sa","mag":8.59,"mag_band":"V","abs_mag":null,"abs_mag_band":null,"distance_ly":29500000,"distance_method":"literature value (curated)","ra_deg":189.997625,"dec_deg":-11.623055555555556,"epoch_ra_deg":190.346588,"epoch_dec_deg":-11.770573,"epoch_moved_arcsec":null,"pm_ra_mas_yr":null,"pm_dec_mas_yr":null,"orbits":null,"semi_major_axis_km":null,"periapsis_km":null,"mass_kg":null,"mass_msun":null,"constellation":"Virgo","discovered":"1781","featured":true,"url":"https://spacecatalog.org/object/m104","radius_km":null,"radius_kind":null,"data_quality":null,"description":"Seen nearly edge-on, a brilliant bulge cut by a knife-sharp dust lane. The shape earned it a hat's name and one of astronomy's most reproduced photographs.","properties":{"b_mag":9.15,"h_mag":5.21,"j_mag":5.89,"k_mag":4.96,"v_mag":8.59,"redshift":0.003642,"hubble_type":"Sa","wikidata_id":"Q91461627","redshift_cmb":0.0047878589318164355,"discovered_by":"Pierre Méchain, William Herschel","ngc_type_code":"G","uncertainties":{"distance_ly":[14287368.83288267,14287368.83288267]},"major_axis_arcmin":8.45,"minor_axis_arcmin":4.91,"wikipedia_article":"Sombrero Galaxy","position_angle_deg":90,"surface_brightness":22.26,"radial_velocity_km_s":1090},"designations":[{"catalog":"2MASX","designation":"2MASX J12395949-1137230"},{"catalog":"Common name","designation":"Sombrero Galaxy"},{"catalog":"HD","designation":"HD 110124"},{"catalog":"IRAS","designation":"IRAS 12373-1120"},{"catalog":"IRAS","designation":"IRAS 12373-1121"},{"catalog":"IRAS","designation":"IRAS F12374-1120"},{"catalog":"LEDA","designation":"LEDA 42407"},{"catalog":"MCG","designation":"MCG -02-32-020"},{"catalog":"Messier","designation":"M 104"},{"catalog":"NGC","designation":"NGC 4594"},{"catalog":"PGC","designation":"PGC 42407"},{"catalog":"UGCA","designation":"UGCA 293"}],"source":{"id":"openngc","name":"OpenNGC","url":"https://github.com/mattiaverga/OpenNGC","license":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"updated_at":"2026-08-30T09:56:50.739Z","attribution":"Data from SpaceCatalog.org. Individual records carry their source and license in `source`; attribution is required for CC-BY and CC-BY-SA rows."}