M31 is the nearest large galaxy next to our Milky Way, and is about two times larger than our home galaxy. The distance between them is 2.5 mill. light-years, and they are the biggest members of the "Local Group" of galaxies, bound together gravitationally. Two small satellite galaxies to M31 are also visible on the image, M110 to the upper right, and M32 near the lower left edge of the galaxy.
Under dark and transparent conditions M31 can be seen as a fuzzy patch with the naked eyes.
Because of its size I had to make a mosaic out of six seperate panels.