The Andromeda Galaxy, or Messier 31, is a barred spiral galaxy and our nearest galactic neighbor. Andromeda is about 5 degrees wide in the sky, making it nearly as wide as ten full moons. It is estimated to be 2.5 million lightyears from Earth. The galaxy's name stems from the area of Earth's sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda.

The earliest known photograph of the galaxy was taken by astronomer Isaac Roberts in 1888. Although at that time, it was called the Great Andromeda "Nebula". It was not until 1925 when Edwin Hubble confirmed that the "nebula" was a galaxy millions of lightyears away.

Due to its immense size, this photo is comprised of two panels joined together to form a single image. This image is by no means the best image of the magnificent galaxy, but it does show the beauty and majesty of our galactic neighbor.