M104: The Sombrero Galaxy

M104: The Sombrero Galaxy
The striking spiral galaxy M104 is famous for its nearly edge-on profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes. Seen in silhouette against an extensive bulge of stars, the swath of cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy suggesting the more popular moniker, The Sombrero Galaxy. Image Data: NASA, ESO , NAOJ, Giovanni Paglioli - Processing: R. Colombari. Tap © to read more.