{
  "id": 12072823,
  "title": "APOD: 2026 October 5 – M104: The Sombrero Galaxy’s Tidal Streams",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/apod-2026-october-5-m104-the-sombrero-galaxys-tidal-streams",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-05T04:05:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "NASA Science",
    "slug": "nasa-science",
    "url": "https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-october-5-m104-the-sombrero-galaxys-tidal-streams/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On October 5, 2026, the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) featured a deep image of the Sombrero galaxy, M104. This galaxy is named for its appearance in shorter exposures, which resembles a hat. A key feature of M104 is a dark dust brim encircling its disk galaxy center. However, a much longer exposure reveals a surprising stellar haze extending well beyond the central disk, containing many unresolved stars. Within this haze, structures such as a diagonal ring and tidal streams can be seen, providing evidence of M104's violent past and its likely formation from collisions and mergers of smaller galaxies. The light from the Sombrero galaxy takes about 30 million years to reach us, and the galaxy itself spans approximately 150,000 light years across. The featured image was captured over seven days in mid-2026 from Namibia.",
  "summary": "The post APOD: 2026 October 5 – M104: The Sombrero Galaxy’s Tidal Streams appeared first on NASA Science .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "NASA",
        "title": "APOD: 2026 October 5 – M104: The Sombrero Galaxy’s Tidal Streams",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/apod-2026-october-5-m104-the-sombrero-galaxys-tidal-streams-12079158",
        "published": "2026-10-05T04:05:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}