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Credit & Copyright: The Electronic Universe Project
Explanation:
Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way
Galaxy. Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda.
Together these two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies.
The diffuse light from Andromeda is caused by the hundreds of billions
of stars that compose it. The several distinct stars that surround
Andromeda's image
are actually stars in our Galaxy that are well in front of the background
object.
Andromeda is frequently referred to as M31 since it is
the 31st object on
Messier's
list of diffuse sky objects. M31 is so distant it takes about 2 million
years for light to reach us from there.
For more information on M31 see The Electronic Universe Project's write-up.
Many images of Messier objects can be found in The Electronic Universe Project's The Galaxy Gallery: Messier Objects.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Andromeda
Publications with words: Andromeda
See also: