The Andromeda Galaxy
M31 or NGC 224 or Andromeda Nebula
2020
aug 8 - 20
and
2023
jan 16
The Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Messier 31 or M31, is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy and is approximately 2.537 million light-years away from Earth.
The Andromeda Galaxy is larger than the Milky Way, with a diameter of about 220,000 light-years, making it the largest galaxy in the Local Group.
Exposure
13 hours
The Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way are on a collision course with each other. In approximately 4.5 billion years, the two galaxies are expected to collide and eventually merge to form a single, larger galaxy.
Galaxies near the Andromeda Galaxy visible in the image are M32 and M110.
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