Andromeda Galaxy

This breathtaking portrait showcases over 100 million stars within a portion of the Andromeda galaxy, our nearest large galactic neighbor located over 2 million light-years away. This magnificent mosaic represents the largest image ever assembled by Hubble, stitched together from thousands of individual exposures to create an unprecedented view of our sister galaxy. The incredible detail reveals individual stars, star clusters, nebulae, and dust lanes with stunning clarity, allowing astronomers to study stellar populations and galactic structure in ways never before possible. Andromeda, also known as M31, is similar in size and structure to our own Milky Way and is on a collision course with our galaxy, destined to merge in approximately 4.5 billion years. This remarkable image serves as both a scientific treasure trove and a humbling reminder of the vast scale and beauty of the cosmos beyond our own galactic home.