This was a full reprocess from data from 2014 using new techniques like deconvolution and drizzling. I was really very happy with this new result. It's one of my most successful processings I think.
I wanted to resubmit this image so that it could be considered as IOTD, because new revisions are not considered when added to an existing image
The Andromeda Galaxy, also called Messier 31 or M31, is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way.
It is 2.5 million light years away from Earth and is the other major member of the Local Group, our local collection of galaxies.
Like the Milky Way, it is a barred spiral galaxy, so-called for the bar-like structure formed by the stars in its center.
Andromeda is about 260,000 light-years wide, according to NASA, making it the largest galaxy in the Local Group. However, its mass is roughly comparable to or even less than that of the Milky Way, according to NASA JPL
Scientists think the galaxy could be anywhere from 5 and 10 billion years old. However, it may not have existed in its current form until two or three billion years ago, when two smaller galaxies orbiting each other merged to form the current Andromeda Galaxy, according to a 2018 study.
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