Billions and Billions.com

The Great Andromeda Galaxy M31

This spectacular object is just seen with the naked eye below the big W of Cassiopaeia. It is our closest neighboring galaxy in what is known as the Local Group.That's still a staggering 3,000,000 light years from us. Bear in mind that one light year is about six trillion miles. It was this object that Edwin Hubble first identified as another galaxy unto itself, and not a nebula within our own Milky Way galaxy. The large 'star' at about 9 o'clock on the disk is sub-galaxy M32 and at 5 o'clock is M110. M31 is close to edge-on from our vantage point, so we don't see much in the way of spiral arms, but the structure in the dark lanes coursing through it are magnificent.