The Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, NGC 224) is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way, a barred spiral in the constellation Andromeda. At magnitude 3.44 it is bright enough to see with the unaided eye from a dark site, as a soft spindle of light — the most distant object most people will ever view without a telescope. The photograph in this album was made on 23 September 2026, in the season when Andromeda stands high in the evening sky.
Light in the picture has traveled 2.50 million light-years (765 kiloparsecs). The bright disk spans about 152,000 light-years, and the galaxy holds on the order of a trillion stars. On the sky the disk covers roughly 3.2° by 1°, several times the width of the full Moon. Wide fields often include two close companions, the dwarf ellipticals Messier 32 and Messier 110.
Facts
- Distance: 2.50 million light-years (765 kiloparsecs)
- Bright-disk diameter: about 152,000 light-years
- Barred spiral galaxy, type SAB(s)b; also cataloged as NGC 224
- Apparent magnitude 3.44; visible to the unaided eye under a dark sky
- J2000 position: RA 00h 42m 44.3s, Dec +41° 16′ 09″, in Andromeda
- Roughly one trillion stars, with companion galaxies M32 and M110
