Messier 32

Messier 32 (also known as M32 and NGC 221) is a dwarf "early-type" galaxy about 2,490,000 light-years (760,000 pc) from the Solar System, appearing in the constellation Andromeda. M32 is a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749. The galaxy is a prototype of the relatively rare compact elliptical (cE) class. Half the stars are concentrated within the inner core, which has an effective radius of 330 light-years (100 pc). Densities in the central stellar cusp increase steeply, exceeding 3×107 M☉ pc−3 (30 million solar masses per cubic parsec) at the smallest sub-radii resolved by Hubble Space Telescope, and the half-light radius of this central star cluster is around 6 pc (20 light-years). Like more ordinary elliptical galaxies, M32 contains mostly old faint red and yellow stars with practically no dust or gas and consequently no current star formation. It does, however, show hints of star formation in the relatively recent past.