Hubble telescope captures stunning image of Milky Way's isolated neighbor

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a detailed image of the irregular galaxy ESO 174–1, one of the Milky Way galaxy's closest neighbors. The image reveals a wispy cloud of milky white gas surrounded by bright stars, with other stars and a dark tendril of gas and dust visible within the galaxy. This observation is part of a program to better understand the galactic population of the Milky Way's surroundings. The irregular shape of ESO 174–1 suggests it may have been formed through interactions or collisions with other galaxies. The program aims to study the brightest stars of every known galaxy within 32 million light-years of the Milky Way.