Galaxies · Galaxy · elliptical galaxy
The giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 and its jet, in a Hubble ultraviolet and visible image.
Featured palette: Hubble view of M87 and its jet (Sampled from this image)
#42362B#140D07#231A10#382B1C#554532#7D6A54#B09E8C
Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Lessing (Stanford University), E. Baltz (Stanford University), M. Shara (AMNH), J. DePasquale (STScI). · released 26 September 2024
About Messier 87
Messier 87 is a giant elliptical galaxy in the Virgo cluster. At its centre is the black hole M87*, which powers a jet thousands of light-years long.
| Classification | Galaxy (elliptical galaxy) |
|---|---|
| Identifiers | M87, NGC 4486 |
| Distance | 53.0 million light-yearsdistance stated by the image publisher · ESA/Hubble |
| Observed light (this view) | UV, V |
Why these colours?
A warm glow and a blue jet
Hubble combines an ultraviolet and a visible filter, both shown in visible colours: the galaxy glows warm and the jet appears blue.
From: Hubble view of M87 and its jet Visible-light composite
Colour clusters describe pixels in an image; they cannot identify a mineral, a gas or a physical temperature. Shares of pixels describe the sampled region of the image, not the object’s surface.
Colours from selected views
Palettes sampled from identified images and regions, or calculated from a documented model. These values describe each image or model, not one permanent colour of Messier 87.
Hubble view of M87 and its jet
Sampled from this image · Hubble view of M87 and its jet
#42362BRGB 66, 54, 43region average#140D07RGB 20, 13, 734% of the region#231A10RGB 35, 26, 1630% of the region#382B1CRGB 56, 43, 2817% of the region#554532RGB 85, 69, 5011% of the region#7D6A54RGB 125, 106, 846% of the region#B09E8CRGB 176, 158, 1403% of the region
See where these colours came from
Creative palettes inspired by Messier 87
A design derived from the selected representation. It is not a scientific colour measurement. Each colour keeps the sampled colour it was made from.
Virgo Glow
Inspired by this object
#77716DRGB 119, 113, 109from #140D07#807A73RGB 128, 122, 115from #231A10#8D847BRGB 141, 132, 123from #382B1C#9E9488RGB 158, 148, 136from #554532#B4A89BRGB 180, 168, 155from #7D6A54#CEC4BARGB 206, 196, 186from #B09E8C
M87’s warm glow softened into gentle neutrals.
Explore the views
Pick a colour from the image. Click or tap the picture to read a colour. Picked colours are yours, not catalogue samples.
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Use these colours
Every palette above opens in the palette generator. With JavaScript you can also add colours to your cosmic palette, save them, make a gradient or pattern, preview them in a design or a room (you choose which colour goes on which surface), check digital accessibility and export them. Each colour keeps the view and sample it came from.
Paint matches compare digital swatches for design inspiration. They are not physical equivalents of light from space. Edits create a new design palette. The original representation remains unchanged.
Questions about Messier 87’s colours
Is this the same as M87*?
No. M87 is the galaxy; M87* is the black hole at its centre, which has its own page.
Sources
Image credits
- Hubble view of M87 and its jet: NASA, ESA, A. Lessing (Stanford University), E. Baltz (Stanford University), M. Shara (AMNH), J. DePasquale (STScI). CC BY 4.0. Resized for the web from the publisher’s file (sha256 f2fe1a038220cd8f22fbc0b3c61d64d9fb102b5fa105f62e2c6f79fad7d485cb).
Images were resized once for the web; colours were measured from the published files (k-means in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1); calculated colours use the CIE 1931 2° observer. Facts last reviewed 25 October 2026. Catalogue pcke-cosmos-2026-10-25, page revision 74bf9de22454. No ESA, ESO or NASA endorsement is implied.