Enormous M87 galaxy looks like giant potato in 1st-ever 3D map (image)

An image of Messier 87 captured by the Hubble Space Telescope (left), along with a 3D map of the giant elliptical galaxy (right). (Image credit: Illustration: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Frank Summers (STScI); Science: Chung-Pei Ma (UC Berkeley))

A massive elliptical galaxy has been mapped in three dimensions for the first time, revealing it has a shape similar to a monstrous cosmic potato. 

The model of Messier 87 (M87), which is one of the largest known elliptical galaxies, was created using data from the W.M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawaii and the Hubble Space Telescope.