The Hubble Space Telescope has created the largest photomosaic ever assembled from observations, featuring a panoramic view of the Andromeda galaxy. Located 2.5 million light-years away, the galaxy is visible to the naked eye and features six times the apparent diameter of the full Moon in angular size. The stunning mosaic captures the glow of 200 million stars spread across about 2.5 billion pixels.
After over 10 years of data collection from more than 600 Hubble snapshots, astronomers have pieced together a detailed view of the galaxy’s past history through mergers with smaller satellite galaxies. The camera zooms into the central portion, resolving a sea of older stars, while panning along the vast disk that stretches over 200,000 light-years across.
Dark dust clouds are etched throughout the view, and the stellar population transitions to bluer hues towards the outer rim, where bright blue star clusters dominate. The video offers an unprecedented glimpse into this closest major galactic neighbor, providing insights into its formation and evolution.
Source: https://esahubble.org/videos/heic2501a