NASA shares largest ever image of galaxy- check out Andromeda Galaxy

NASA has shared the largest ever image taken of the Andromeda Galaxy on Instagram on August 1. The stunning image was taken by the Hubble Space telescope 7 years ago. Since NASA posted the photo, it has become a viral sensation, garnering over 1 million likes. Here’s more about it.

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Although images of the Andromeda Galaxy have been released before, recently NASA shared an image that is special as it is the largest ever taken image of the humongous Andromeda Galaxy (NASA Instagram)

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1/5 Although images of the Andromeda Galaxy have been released before, recently NASA shared an image that is special as it is the largest ever taken image of the humongous Andromeda Galaxy (NASA Instagram)

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Sharing the image on social media, NASA wrote, “Seven years ago, @NASAHubble captured its largest-ever image assembled of the Andromeda galaxy in brilliant clarity, showing a 48,000-light-year-long stretch of our galactic neighbor showing over 100 million stars in this sweeping view. Because Andromeda lies 2.5 million light-years away, we can identify thousands of star clusters – a compact group of hundreds or thousands of stars. Our Milky Way galaxy and Andromeda are similar in size and shape, and by studying our sister galaxy, we can learn much about our own.”. (NASA)

2/5 Sharing the image on social media, NASA wrote, “Seven years ago, @NASAHubble captured its largest-ever image assembled of the Andromeda galaxy in brilliant clarity, showing a 48,000-light-year-long stretch of our galactic neighbor showing over 100 million stars in this sweeping view. Because Andromeda lies 2.5 million light-years away, we can identify thousands of star clusters – a compact group of hundreds or thousands of stars. Our Milky Way galaxy and Andromeda are similar in size and shape, and by studying our sister galaxy, we can learn much about our own.”. (NASA)

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The stunning image has gone viral and has garnered over 1.2 million likes and over 2000 comments as of now. (NASA)

3/5 The stunning image has gone viral and has garnered over 1.2 million likes and over 2000 comments as of now. (NASA)

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The Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, is a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter of about 46.56 kiloparsecs (152,000 lightyears). It is located about 770 kiloparsecs (2.5 million lightyears) away from the Earth. While not much is known about the galaxy in depth due to the large distance, the galaxy is entirely capable of having Earth-like planets that support life. (AFP)

4/5 The Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, is a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter of about 46.56 kiloparsecs (152,000 lightyears). It is located about 770 kiloparsecs (2.5 million lightyears) away from the Earth. While not much is known about the galaxy in depth due to the large distance, the galaxy is entirely capable of having Earth-like planets that support life. (AFP)

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The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are expected to collide in around 4–5 billion years and merge into a single giant galaxy.This is not the first post to go viral on NASA's Instagram account. Recently the handle posted an image of Pluto with rainbow colors to highlight the complex geography of the dwarf planet which also went viral. (REUTERS)

5/5 The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are expected to collide in around 4–5 billion years and merge into a single giant galaxy.This is not the first post to go viral on NASA's Instagram account. Recently the handle posted an image of Pluto with rainbow colors to highlight the complex geography of the dwarf planet which also went viral. (REUTERS)