Andromeda’s Active Core

Our Neighboring Galaxy's Unusual Core

The images and illustration reveal that the Andromeda Galaxy's (M31's) core is composed of a ring of old, red stars and a newly discovered disk of young, blue stars. The disk is trapped within a supermassive black hole's gravitational field. The mass of Andromeda's monster black...

Andromeda Galaxy (M31) Wide-Field Image

Image of M31 taken with a 12.5-inch Ritchey-Chrétien telescope.

The Core of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

A Hubble WFPC2 image of the core of M31. Astronomers believe the two bright objects are a ring of red stars and a disk of blue stars.

Artist's Rendition of the Core of M31

Artist's rendition of the core of M31 that shows a ring of older red stars and a disk of young blue stars.

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,...

Andromeda Constellation

A color-processed photo of the Andromeda constellation.

Andromeda Galaxy – WIYN 0.9-Meter Telescope

A close-up view of the Andromeda Galaxy taken with the Mosaic I camera on NOAO's 0.9-meter WIYN telescope at KPNO.

Andromeda Galaxy – KPNO Mayall 4-Meter Telescope

A close-up of the nucleus of the Andromeda Galaxy taken in the infrared with the NOAO Mayall 4-meter telescope at KPNO.

Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around M31's Black Hole

A zoom diving deep into the nucleus of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) then dissolving into an animation of a concentration of red stars. Pushing deeper into the animation reveals a disk of young blue stars swirling around a black hole. Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph...