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Hubble Image and 3D Model of M87

On the left is a photo of a galaxy, which resembles a translucent, fuzzy white cotton ball. The brightness decreases gradually out in all directions from a bright point of light at the center. A wavy, blue jet of material extends from the point-like core outward to the upper right, about halfway across the galaxy. Stars speckle the background. The image is labeled “Hubble photo of M87.” On the right is an egg-shaped grid of lines whose long axis is oriented from lower left to upper right. Within it is a simulated image of the same galaxy seen on the left, without any background stars. The image is labeled “3D illustration of M87.”

A photo of the huge elliptical galaxy M87 [left] is compared to its three-dimensional shape as gleaned from meticulous observations made with the Hubble and Keck telescopes [right]. Because the galaxy is too far away for astronomers to employ stereoscopic vision, they instead followed the motion of stars around the center of M87, like bees around a hive. This created a three-dimensional view of how stars are distributed within the galaxy.

  • Release Date
    April 13, 2023
  • Science Release
    Giant Galaxy Seen in 3D by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Observatory
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Chung-Pei Ma (UC Berkeley); Illustration: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Frank Summers (STScI)

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Related Images & Videos

A 36-second animation that begins with a Hubble photo of the galaxy M87. The galaxy resembles a translucent, fuzzy white cotton ball. The brightness decreases gradually out in all directions from a bright point of light at the center. A wavy, blue jet of material extends from the core outward to the upper right, about halfway across the galaxy. Stars speckle the background. About 3 seconds in, the image transitions to a simulated image of the same galaxy, without any background stars. An egg-shaped grid of lines whose long axis is oriented from lower left to upper right appears and immediately begins rotating counterclockwise. The galaxy rotates with the grid, changing appearance as the orientation changes and different parts of the galaxy move in and out of view. At the end, the grid fades away, leaving the simulated galaxy.

3D model of M87

This animation begins with a Hubble Space Telescope photo of the huge elliptical galaxy M87. It then fades to a computer model of M87. A grid is overlaid to trace out its three-dimensional shape, made more evident by rotating the model and grid. This shape was gleaned from...

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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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