It resembles a shining UFO or a wide-brimmed hat but... this isn't what it looks like. Its marked central bulge and its lane of dark interstellar dust give the galaxy its unusual resemblance.

This is a very beautiful compiled image of the Sombrero Galaxy hovering in space. Three separate observatory images of the galaxy, photographed by NASA's three Great Observatories (Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope) have been used to achieve the above effect.

The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as M104), is 50,000 light years across. It is one of the most massive objects located in, the relatively close at hand, Virgo cluster, which is 70 million light years away toward the constellation of Virgo. For comparison, in size, this impressive galaxy is equal to 800 billion suns! The Sombrero, spiral galaxy is about 28 million light-years away and it can be viewed from Earth, from just 6 degrees south of its equatorial plane.

The Chandra X-ray image (in blue) shows hot gas glowing in X rays and extending approximately 60,000 light years from the center of the Sombrero Galaxy. Additionally other objects and quasars are also visible in the background as well as an extended X-ray glow possibly caused by supernova winds.
The next photo (green) was made by the highest-resolution optical-imaging instrument aboard Hubble (HCR) and shows a bulge of starlight in part blocked by a rim of dust. Also in Spitzer's infrared image a bright rim of dust is visible.

Astronomers speculate that a gigantic black hole (a billion times the mass of our Sun) lies at the galaxy's center. To the left is another image of the Sombrero Galaxy, (also known as Messier 104), made by NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes in May-June 2003. This galaxy was added to the official Messier list in 1921, however, Herschel found this object much earlier, on May 9, 1784.