# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DL-gFm7J0mQ
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/32265009-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/3fe8688c23.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-07-11T17:53:26.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

We tip our hat to this view 🤠 ⁣
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Located about 30 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo, the Sombrero Galaxy is famous for its distinctive shape resembling the brim of a wide hat. ⁣
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On June 3, 2025, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope revealed a clearer view of how the galaxy got its name from the Spanish sombra, meaning ‘shade.’ Under a near-infrared camera, the central cluster of old stars at the galaxy’s core glow brightly, while thick lanes of dust block starlight in the outer ring to create a shadowed disk. ⁣
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But hold onto your hat: this galaxy may have a turbulent past. Studies suggest the Sombrero was shaped by a violent merger with at least one other galaxy. Webb’s latest near-infrared view, combined with other NASA telescope observations at different wavelengths, help astronomers piece together how galaxies like the Sombrero form and evolve. ⁣
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Image description: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s new image of the Sombrero galaxy in near-infrared wavelengths shows dust from the outer ring blocking starlight from the inner portions of the galaxy. A bright, central bulge of stars is surrounded by a darker, dusty ring that arcs across the image, giving the galaxy its hat-like appearance. The background is dotted with faint stars and galaxies. ⁣
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Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI ⁣
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#SombreroGalaxy #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope #NASA #Webb #Galaxy #VirgoConstellation

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## Tags

webb, jameswebbspacetelescope, nasa, virgoconstellation, galaxy, sombrerogalaxy

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