The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as M104 or NGC 4594) is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo located 28 million light years from Earth.
It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk.
The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. Astronomers initially thought that the halo was small and light, indicative of a spiral galaxy.
But Spitzer found that halo around the Sombrero Galaxy is larger and more massive than previously thought, indicative of a giant elliptical galaxy.
The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +9.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes. (WIKI)
Imaged with the 16" f3.75 Dream Astrograph.
Apogee Alta U-16M camera.
L RGB image
LUM - 90 min
RGB 20 minutes each (BIN 2)
(Total of 2:30 HRS)
Imaged from Tivoli farm in Namibia June 2012.