The Sombrero Galaxy is one of many showpieces of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Even at a distance of 40 million light years its beauty and mystery are not diminished. The Sombrero illustrates how incredibly thin the disks of spiral galaxies are. In this case the galaxy is inclined from our perspective by a mere 6 degrees. The extended halo which surrounds the galaxy is where orbiting globular star clusters are found (just like in the Milky Way). Other examples of edge-on spiral galaxies include NGC 891 and NGC 4565. Minimum credit: Morris Wade/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF Please visit Caelumobservatory.com to see more images of the universe.