These stars and clusters were absorbed by, or integrated in, and are now part of the halo of M31. That M32 has recently undergone a closer encounter with its larger neighbor is suggested because it apparently caused and left disturbances in the big galaxy's spiral pattern. M32 was the first elliptical galaxy ever discovered, by Le Gentil on October 29, 1749. Halton Arp has included it as No. 168 in his Catalogue of Peculiar Galaxies . Hubble Space Telescope images of M32 More images of M32 Amateur images of M32 More images of M31 and M32 Amateur images of M31 and M32 Simulation of M32's core animation , showing the motions of stars caught in the gravitational field of a three-million solar mass central object in the core of M32.
Stars swarm around the object like angry bees around a hive.