Diffuse oval haze against black background. Stars and distant galaxies shine through it. Just above image center the haze gets brighter and denser toward the bright-white core of the galaxy. Top, just left of center is a bright foreground star.

Messier 85, M85

This moody image shows a galaxy named Messier 85, captured in all its delicate, hazy glory by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Messier 85 slants through the constellation of Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair) and lies around 50 million light-years from Earth. It was first discovered by Charles Messier’s colleague Pierre Méchain in 1781 and is included in the Messier catalog of celestial objects.

Credits: NASA, ESA, and R. O’Connell (University of Virginia)