HUBBLE ATLAS
Centre of M31 (Andromeda Galaxy , M 31 , Messier 31 , NGC 224) — image from the Hubble Space Telescope

Galaxies

Centre of M31

January 11, 2012 · ESA/Hubble · Andromeda Galaxy , M 31 , Messier 31 , NGC 224 · Andromeda

Zoom to full resolution See where it is in the 3D sky Original on ESA/Hubble ↗

This Hubble Space Telescope image centres on the 100-million-solar-mass black hole at the hub of the neighboring spiral galaxy M31, or the Andromeda galaxy, one of the few galaxies outside the Milky Way visible to the naked eye and the only other giant galaxy in the Local Group.

This is the sharpest visible-light image ever made of the nucleus of an external galaxy.