M31’s Intriguing Nucleus

Hubble telescope observations have yielded insights into the Andromeda Galaxy's (M31's) complex nucleus. New images from Hubble uncovered a disk of young, hot, blue stars swirling around a supermassive black hole. The disk is nested inside an elliptical ring of older, cooler, red stars, seen in previous Hubble observations. The inset images show M31's bright core and a view of the entire galaxy.