Stars in the Andromeda galaxy, HST image

Stars in the Andromeda galaxy. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image showing the stars in a small part of the disc of the Andromeda Galaxy. Andromeda, the nearest large galaxy to our own, is located 2.5 million light years away in the constellation of the same name. Hubble's position above the distorting effect of the atmosphere, combined with the galaxy's relative proximity, means that the galaxy can be resolved into individual stars, rather than the cloudy white wisps usually seen in observations of galaxies. A galaxy's disc is the area made up of its spiral arms, and the darker areas between them. These observations are made near the edge of the arm, where the star fields are less dense. The diffuse areas of light are galaxies beyond Andromeda. Image obtained by the Advanced Camera for Surveys