Messier 32 (also known as M32 and NGC 221) is a dwarf “early-type” galaxy located about 2.65 million light-years from Earth, appearing in the constellation Andromeda. M32 is a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749. M32 measures 6.5 ± 0.2 thousand light-years in diameter at the widest point.

The galaxy is a prototype of the relatively rare, compact elliptical (cE) galaxy class. Half the stars concentrate within an effective radius of only 100 parsecs. Densities in the central stellar cusp increase steeply, exceeding 3×10⁷ M_⊙ pc⁻³ at the smallest radii resolved by HST, and the half-light radius of this central star cluster is around 6 parsec. Like more ordinary elliptical galaxies, M32 contains mostly older 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.