M104

The Sombrero Galaxy is one of the most iconic galaxies in the sky, located about 31 million light-years away at the southern edge of the Virgo Cluster in Virgo. It features a brilliant white core, an unusually large central bulge, and a dramatic dark dust lane running across its equator — giving it the appearance of a Mexican sombrero hat. The galaxy spans about 50,000 light-years and contains about 800 billion stars. Its central black hole is one of the most massive known, at about 1 billion solar masses.

Located about 5.5 degrees west of Spica and about 11 degrees south of Denebola, near the Virgo-Corvus border. In binoculars it appears as a bright, elongated smudge. A 4-inch telescope at 80-100x shows the bright bulge with a hint of the dust lane. An 8-inch telescope reveals the dust lane clearly — a dark line bisecting the galaxy's disk. The Sombrero is one of the most rewarding galaxies for small to medium telescopes. Best observed from March through June.

Discovered by Pierre Mechain on May 11, 1781. It was not in Messier's published catalog but was added later from his handwritten notes. William Herschel independently discovered the dark dust lane in 1784. It was officially added to the Messier catalog as M104 by Camille Flammarion in 1921.