M104 is a lenticular galaxy with a large central bulge lying 31 million light-years from Earth. It is seen nearly edge-on, which brings its dark equatorial dust lane into sharp relief. The combination of the large central bulge and the dark dust lane give it a resemblance to a sombrero hat. Astronomer Vesto Slipher from Lowell Observatory was the first to measure the redshift of M104 and found it was receeding from us a velocity of 1,000 kilometers/second. This was some of the first evidence of the expansion of the universe from the Big Bang.

Exposures: L:R:G:B = 75:20:30:35 minutes = 2hours, 35 minutes total exposure at f/7.5.