This huge ball of stars--around 100 billion in total--is an elliptical galaxy located some 55 million light-years away. Known as Messier 89, this galaxy appears to be perfectly spherical; which is unusual for elliptical galaxies that tend to be elongated ellipsoids. The apparently spherical nature of Messier 89 could, however, be a trick of perspective, and the result of its orientation relative to Earth.
This huge ball of stars--around 100 billion in total--is an elliptical galaxy located some 55 million light-years away. Known as Messier 89, this galaxy appears to be perfectly spherical; which is unusual for elliptical galaxies that tend to be elongated ellipsoids. The apparently spherical nature of Messier 89 could, however, be a trick of perspective, and the result of its orientation relative to Earth.
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