A bluish image of the core and surrounding of a companion galaxy to Andromeda. The color is due to the image being taken in ultraviolet light.

M32 – Companion Galaxy to Andromeda

This image of a large part of M32 was created from ultraviolet observations with Hubble and provides evidence that the ultraviolet light comes from a population of extremely hot, helium-burning stars at a late stage in their lives. Unlike the Sun, which burns hydrogen into helium, these old stars exhausted their central hydrogen long ago and now burn helium into heavier elements.

Credits: NASA and Thomas M. Brown, Charles W. Bowers, Randy A. Kimble, Allen V. Sweigart (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) and Henry C. Ferguson (Space Telescope Science Institute)
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Image CreditNASA and Thomas M. Brown, Charles W. Bowers, Randy A. Kimble, Allen V. Sweigart (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) and Henry C. Ferguson (Space Telescope Science Institute)
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