A deep image of the Sombrero Galaxy, M104, has revealed features hidden in shorter exposures, according to NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day entry published on October 5, 2026. On brief exposures the galaxy resembles a hat, defined by a dark band of dust circling its disk. The much longer exposure brings out a bright, hazy halo extending well beyond the central disk and holding many unresolved stars. Within that stellar haze, structures including a diagonal ring can be seen. The entry states that these tidal streams offer fresh evidence that M104 had a violent past and is the result of collisions and mergers of smaller galaxies. Light from the Sombrero Galaxy takes about 30 million years to reach us, and the galaxy spans about 150 thousand light years. The image was captured over seven days in mid-2026 from Namibia, credited to Engelbert Vollmer.