Hubble Telescope captures image of stars in whale's belly
Hubble Telescope captures image of stars in whale's belly
Show all 11Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
![Louise Thomas](https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/support-us/louise-thomas.png)
Louise Thomas
Editor
It looks like a flock of starlings flying across the night sky but this is in fact an image of the stars that make up the dwarf galaxy ESO 540-31.
The image has been captured by the Hubble Telescope and shows the stars inside the constellation of Cetus or 'the whale'. It almost appears as if an intergalactic creature has swallowed the galaxy whole.
The dwarf galaxy of ESO 540-31 lies 11 million light-years from Earth and in the image more galaxies can be seen the background.
While most galaxies contain billions of stars, dwarf galaxies are usually made up of a few million stars. The Earth lies within the galaxy of The Milky Way which contains over 30 billion stars.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments