NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has recently shared a dazzling view of a broad-brimmed Mexican hat resembling a galaxy called NGC 7814. Also known as ‘Little Sombrero’ or Caldwell 43, the galaxy is located 28 million light-years away.
The ‘Little Sombrero’ is 80,000 light-years-wide and billions of years old. It features a bright central bulge, a thin disk full of dust, and a glowing halo of gas and stars that sprawls out into space.
NGC 7814 is called the Little Sombrero because of its resemblance to the brighter, more famous M104, the Sombrero Galaxy. Both Sombrero and Little Sombrero are spiral galaxies seen edge-on and have extensive halos and central bulges cut by a thin disk with thinner dust lanes in silhouette.
In July 17, 2021, the galaxy appeared to host a Type Ia supernova called SN 2021rhu.