Sombrero galaxy M104, NGC 4594, optical image. This spiral galaxy is seen almost edge_on to Earth. Its disc is seen as a dark band of dust crossing the brighter central bulge. Most of a galaxy磗 mass is thought to be in the form of dark matter, some of which can be detected when it obscures the light from stars behind it. The Sombrero galaxy lies around 28 million light years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. It is around 50,000 light years across, less than half the width of our Milky Way galaxy.