M104 (also known as the Sombrero Galaxy) is about 28 million light years away and is remarkable for its unusually large central bulge and its prominent dark dust lane. Although traditionally thought to be an unbarred spiral galaxy, recent studies have found the central bulge to be more massive than previously thought, indicating it may instead be a giant elliptical galaxy. The size of galactic central bulges is thought to be related to the number of globular clusters present (1,200 to 2,000 in this case).

Technical Information       

Date:                      March, 2011

Location:                Green Valley, Arizona

Telescope:             Takahashi TOA 130F

Camera:                 SBIG ST-2000XM

Filters:                    Astrodon Gen 1

Mount:                    AstroPhysics 1200

Exposure:               LRGB = 255:60:60:60 minutes, all unbinned

Software:                Acquisition: Maxim DL 5, TheSky6

                               Processing: CCDStack, PhotoShop CS3 with various plugins