The Andromeda Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy and is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. It was originally named the Andromeda Nebula and is cataloged as Messier 31, M31, and NGC 224. Andromeda is about 152,000 light-years across and approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth. The galaxy’s name stems from the area of Earth’s sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda, which itself is named after the princess who was the wife of Perseus in Greek mythology. The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies have about a 50% chance of colliding with each other in the next 10 billion years, merging to potentially form a giant elliptical galaxy or a large lenticular galaxy. Andromeda is among the brightest of the Messier objects, and is visible to the naked eye from Earth on moonless nights, even when viewed from areas with moderate light pollution.

Body: Andromeda (M31)
Original Resolution: 3240×5760
DPI: 96
Bit Depth: 48
Exposure Time: 8hrs