August 5, 2008—The giant elliptical galaxy M87 shines in a composite image created with data taken between July 2002 and November 2005 from the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Very Large Array.

The distant galaxy, home to more than a trillion stars, lies some 60 million light-years away.

An enormous black hole at M87's center produces massive jets of radiation at radio, x-ray, optical and other wavelengths—which erupt from the galaxy at nearly the speed of light.

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