This is a Hubble Space Telescope photo of the huge elliptical galaxy M87. A grid is overlayed to trace out its three-dimensional shape. This was gleaned from meticulous observations made with the Hubble and Keck telescopes. Because the galaxy is too far away for astronomers to employ stereoscopic vision, they instead followed the motion of stars around the center of M87, like bees around a hive. This created a three-dimensional view of how stars are distributed within the galaxy.

ANIMATION: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
3D MODEL: Frank Summers (STScI)
SCIENCE: Chung-Pei Ma (UC Berkeley)