Overview
- NOIRLab released the ultra-deep DECam image Monday, showing a halo that stretches to about three times the Sombrero Galaxy’s visible width.
- The 570‑megapixel Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the NSF’s 4‑meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at CTIO in Chile, captured the low‑glow features in remarkable detail.
- The image traces a faint stellar stream from the galaxy’s south side, which NOIRLab says hints at a past merger with a smaller satellite galaxy.
- The galaxy’s bright core is wrapped by roughly 2,000 globular star clusters, and Scientific American reports a central black hole near a billion times the mass of the sun.
- Sombrero (M104/NGC 4594) sits about 28–30 million light‑years away and spans roughly 50,000 light‑years, presenting a near edge‑on disk with a sharp dust lane and a large central bulge.