Thanks to NASA and the Hubble Telescope we now have the largest and clearest image ever taken of our universe. It is a 1.5 billion-pixel image (69,536 x 22,230) of M31, also known as the Andromeda Galaxy.
This is recognized as the largest picture ever taken by NASA Hubble Space Telescope. It’s a massive sweep of our closest neighboring galaxy that resides some 2 million light-years away from Earth.
On the clearest of nights, and away from any light pollution, the Andromeda galaxy can be seen from Earth.
M31 can be seen boxed in red
Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope we can zoom in and take a better look.
The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, has a 7.9 ft mirror and views near ultraviolet, visible light, and near infrared spectra. It is so powerful that it can identify individual stars in Andromeda. For perspective, that’s like if you photographed a beach and then were later able to identify individual grains of sand in that photo.
Below you’ll see video footage that will give you additional info on what you’re seeing in these pictures as well as the clearest, birds-eye view of M31. This footage is made up of 7,398 exposures and taken over 411 individual pointings. It journeys over 40,000 light years through 100-million stars.