M31 is our largest neighbor galaxy. Of course, 'neighbor' is a relative term. This galaxy is about 2.9 million years away. So the light captured to make this image left the 100 billion stars in this galaxy almost 3 million years ago!
You can also see M32 (the fuzzy ball to the right) and M110 (the hazy spot to the far left). These are both elliptical galaxies and companions of the much larger M31. The Andromedia Galaxy spans a distance in the sky several times wider than the moon - so I was lucky to capture most of it in this shot and it's companion galaxies. M31 is visible to the naked eye and seen as a very light 'smudge' on very clear and dark nights.
Details:
This is just my second DSO. In order to capture more detail, I'll need a LOT more exposures. I'll likely re-image this object in the near future.