A deep image of the Sombrero galaxy reveals surprises.
M104 is named the Sombrero galaxy because, on
shorter exposures, it looks like a
hat. A key defining feature of this huge
galaxy is a dark brim of dust that circles the disk galaxy's center. A much longer exposure, however, brings up a hairy past where a
bright, hazy halo is revealed that extends well past the central disk and contains many unresolved stars.
Surprisingly, in this stellar haze, structures can be seen that include a
diagonal ring. These
structures and tidal streams provide fresh evidence that
M104 had a violent past and is surely
the result of collisions and
mergers of smaller galaxies. Light takes about 30 million years to reach us from the
Sombrero galaxy, which fully spans about 150 thousand
light years across. The
featured image was taken over seven days in mid-2026 from
Namibia.