Discover the cosmosEach day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation:A deep image of the Sombrero galaxy reveals surprises.M104is named the Sombrero galaxy because, onshorter exposures, it looks like ahat.
A key defining feature of this hugegalaxyis a dark brim of dust that circles the disk galaxy’s center.
A much longer exposure, however, brings up a hairy past where abright, hazy halois revealed that extends well past the central disk and contains many unresolved stars.
Surprisingly, in this stellar haze, structures can be seen that include adiagonal ring.
Thesestructuresand tidal streams provide fresh evidence thatM104had a violent past and is surelythe resultof collisions andmergersof smaller galaxies.
Light takes about 30 million years to reach us from the Sombrero galaxy, which fully spans about 150 thousandlight yearsacross.
Thefeatured imagewas taken over seven days in mid-2026 from Namibia.
Your Sky Surprise:What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?Tomorrow’s picture:a smile