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The Distribution of Satellite Galaxies around M31

This animation begins with a view of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. We zoom through a scattering of foreground stars and enter the inky blackness of intergalactic space. We cross 2.5 million light-years to reach the Andromeda system, consisting of 36 dwarf satellite galaxies orbiting the giant spindle-shaped Andromeda galaxy at image center. An ambitious survey by the Hubble Space Telescope was made to plot the galaxy locations in three-dimensional space. In this video we circle around a model of the Andromeda system based on real Hubble observational data.

  • Release Date
    February 27, 2025
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Hubble Provides Bird’s-Eye View of Andromeda Galaxy’s Ecosystem
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Visualization: NASA, ESA, Christian Nieves (STScI); Science: Alessandro Savino (UC Berkeley); Acknowledgment: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Frank Summers (STScI), Robert Gendler

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Related Images & Videos

Telescope image with infographic overlays. At top left the text reads, Hubble Space Telescope, Survey of Andromeda's Satellite galaxies. A large field of galaxies take up the left three-quarters. This portion shows hundreds scattered across the black background of space. Most are tiny white dots. Thirty-six tiny galaxies are circled in yellow. Four have labels. From top to bottom, left to right: NGC 185, NGC 147, NGC 205 (M110), NGC 221 (M32). NGC 221 appears slightly lower than a larger, angled oblong galaxy, which is labeled Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Along the right is a column separated into four boxes, each a zoomed in portrait of the labeled galaxies. From top to bottom: NGC 185 looks like a dim blue haze that takes up most of the frame; NGC 147 like a small, very dim oval, with scattered dots nearby; NGC 221 is large and bright white, and takes up most of the box; NGC 205 is not quite as large as NGC 221, and is pinker, with larger dots throughout the frame.

Survey of Andromeda's Satellite Galaxies

This is a wide-angle view of the distribution of known satellite galaxies orbiting the large Andromeda galaxy (M31), located 2.5 million light-years away. The Hubble Space Telescope was used to study the entire population of 36 mini-galaxies circled in yellow. Andromeda is the...

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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

Visualization Credit

NASA, ESA, Christian Nieves (STScI)

Science Credit

Alessandro Savino (UC Berkeley)

Acknowledgment Credit

Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Frank Summers (STScI), Robert Gendler

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