M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) · Seestar S30 · 2025-12-09

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224) is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way, located about 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is a large spiral galaxy, with a disk spanning roughly 200,000 light-years or more, making it substantially larger than our own galaxy. Seen from Earth at a steep inclination rather than face-on, M31 displays sweeping dust lanes across its disk and a bright central bulge, and is one of the few galaxies visible to the naked eye as a faint smudge under dark skies. Its satellite galaxies M32 and M110 are typically visible in the same wide-field frame. M31 and the Milky Way are gravitationally bound and expected to merge in roughly four to five billion years.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy]

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Gradient Merge Mosaic
2. Debayer
3. Fast Rotation (x2)
4. Dynamic Crop
5. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
6. GraXpert (gradient removal)
7. Image Integration
8. Drizzle Integration
9. StarXTerminator (star removal)
10. PixelMath
11. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224) is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way, located about 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is a large spiral galaxy, with a disk spanning roughly 200,000 light-years or more, making it substantially larger than our own galaxy. Seen from Earth at a steep inclination rather than face-on, M31 displays sweeping dust lanes across its disk and a bright central bulge, and is one of the few galaxies visible to the naked eye as a faint smudge under dark skies. Its satellite galaxies M32 and M110 are typically visible in the same wide-field frame. M31 and the Milky Way are gravitationally bound and expected to merge in roughly four to five billion years.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Gradient Merge Mosaic
2. Debayer
3. Fast Rotation (x2)
4. Dynamic Crop
5. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
6. GraXpert (gradient removal)
7. Image Integration
8. Drizzle Integration
9. StarXTerminator (star removal)
10. PixelMath
11. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224) is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way, located about 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is a large spiral galaxy, with a disk spanning roughly 200,000 light-years or more, making it substantially larger than our own galaxy. Seen from Earth at a steep inclination rather than face-on, M31 displays sweeping dust lanes across its disk and a bright central bulge, and is one of the few galaxies visible to the naked eye as a faint smudge under dark skies. Its satellite galaxies M32 and M110 are typically visible in the same wide-field frame. M31 and the Milky Way are gravitationally bound and expected to merge in roughly four to five billion years.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Gradient Merge Mosaic
2. Debayer
3. Fast Rotation (x2)
4. Dynamic Crop
5. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
6. GraXpert (gradient removal)
7. Image Integration
8. Drizzle Integration
9. StarXTerminator (star removal)
10. PixelMath
11. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224) is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way, located about 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is a large spiral galaxy, with a disk spanning roughly 200,000 light-years or more, making it substantially larger than our own galaxy. Seen from Earth at a steep inclination rather than face-on, M31 displays sweeping dust lanes across its disk and a bright central bulge, and is one of the few galaxies visible to the naked eye as a faint smudge under dark skies. Its satellite galaxies M32 and M110 are typically visible in the same wide-field frame. M31 and the Milky Way are gravitationally bound and expected to merge in roughly four to five billion years.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Gradient Merge Mosaic
2. Debayer
3. Fast Rotation (x2)
4. Dynamic Crop
5. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
6. GraXpert (gradient removal)
7. Image Integration
8. Drizzle Integration
9. StarXTerminator (star removal)
10. PixelMath
11. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224) is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way, located about 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is a large spiral galaxy, with a disk spanning roughly 200,000 light-years or more, making it substantially larger than our own galaxy. Seen from Earth at a steep inclination rather than face-on, M31 displays sweeping dust lanes across its disk and a bright central bulge, and is one of the few galaxies visible to the naked eye as a faint smudge under dark skies. Its satellite galaxies M32 and M110 are typically visible in the same wide-field frame. M31 and the Milky Way are gravitationally bound and expected to merge in roughly four to five billion years.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Gradient Merge Mosaic
2. Debayer
3. Fast Rotation (x2)
4. Dynamic Crop
5. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
6. GraXpert (gradient removal)
7. Image Integration
8. Drizzle Integration
9. StarXTerminator (star removal)
10. PixelMath
11. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)