NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has released a breathtaking photomosaic portrait of the Andromeda galaxy, tracing its history 2.5 million years ago. Using over 600 snapshots, the telescope created an image with more than 2.5 billion pixels, capturing the glow of 200 million stars.
The massive project was led by Julianne Dalcanton, director of the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics. The Andromeda galaxy is six times larger in angular size than the full Moon, making it a significant challenge to capture its image with Hubble’s pinpoint view.
The mosaic reveals stunning details about the galaxy, including its mergers with smaller satellite galaxies. By analyzing this image, astronomers hope to piece together the galaxy’s past history and gain new insights into its evolution.
Source: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/01/16/hubble-telescopes-draw-dropping-new-photo-mosaic-traces-andromeda-galaxys-history