It is a composite of three exposures in different wavebands.
North is up and East is left.
The full-resolution version of this photo retains the orginal pixels. He and Mark Neeser, also from the Kapteyn Institute, produced the composite images. A great amount of fine detail is revealed, from the structures in the pronounced dust band in the equatorial plane, to many faint background galaxies that shine through the outer regions. Thie enhances the spiral structure of M104, so that it can be traced all around the galaxy's disk.