A three-paneled image shows different perspectives of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The first panel fill's the left half of the image. It is a Digitized Sky Survey image of the region. The upper-right and lower-right images are zoomed-in Hubble images of areas denoted by white boxes in the left-side image. Each of the images holds a field of distant galaxies and foreground stars on a inky-black background.

Hubble: Draco Dwarf Spheroidal

A team of astronomers analyzed observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope taken over a span of 18 years to measure the dynamic motions of stars within the Draco dwarf galaxy. The telescope's extensive baseline and data archive enabled the team to build the most accurate three-dimensional map of the stars' movements within the system. These improved measurements are helping to shed "light" on the mysterious qualities and behavior of dark matter, the universe's invisible "glue." The left image is from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS). It presents a wider view of the region. The two right-side images are Hubble views.

Credits: NASA, ESA, Eduardo Vitral, Roeland van der Marel, and Sangmo Tony Sohn (STScI), DSS; Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
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Image CreditNASA, ESA, Eduardo Vitral, Roeland van der Marel, and Sangmo Tony Sohn (STScI), DSS; Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
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