Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled its sharpest yet view of the Andromeda galaxy, creating a stunning panoramic image that captures nearly 200 million stars. This unprecedented full-disk view combines data from both hemispheres and represents the most detailed portrait of our neighboring spiral galaxy ever produced. Astronomers spent a decade stitching together images taken by Hubble to achieve this feat.
The southern half of the Andromeda galaxy, which had not been previously imaged in such detail, revealed critical insights into its history. This new mosaic allows scientists to study the galaxy’s star-forming regions and understand how galaxies like Andromeda evolve over time. The discovery also sheds light on theories about mergers with smaller satellite galaxies, which may have shaped much of the galaxy’s current appearance.
According to researchers, the detailed image shows unique structural features in the southern half that could indicate recent disturbances, such as a major merger billions of years ago. This information will help refine models of galaxy evolution and provide a clearer understanding of how spiral galaxies like Andromeda are born, shaped, and ultimately evolve into older elliptical galaxies.
The Hubble-imaged Andromeda offers unprecedented detail on the scale of its entire disk, far beyond what previous observations could achieve. This breakthrough is expected to deepen our knowledge of galaxy mergers, star formation, and the complex processes that shape cosmic neighborhoods.
Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/hubble-space-telescope/hubble-space-telescope-reveals-richest-view-of-andromeda-galaxy-to-date-image