This is our neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy. In about 5 billion years our Milky Way and Andromeda, which are accelerating toward each other, will begin to collide and merge. Actually, they won't hit dead center and merge, but will pass off center through each other. Their momentum will carry them through each other, but their mutual attraction will stop that momentum, and then and they'll come together again even closer. Over many billions of years to come the yo-yo motion will eventually end in a complete merger and a new bigger galaxy. Andromeda is the only galaxy that is big enough, bright enough, and close enough to be seen with the unaided eye. It's central area is 2.5 million light years away. That makes it the most distant object that can be seen without optical aid. However, with  binoculars it is a great sight, and a  "there it is!!" moment when you spot it between Cassiopeia and the Great Square of Pegasus. The individual stars in this picture are actually the foreground stars of our our Milky Way. With the most powerful telescopes, the biggest and brightest stars in Andromeda can be resolved. But even with the world's best telescopes and cameras, stars like our sun are just too small and faint to be seen. What we see here is the diffuse collective glow of the several 100 billion stars of Andromeda.

There are 2 baby or satellite  galaxies around Andromeda. They are known as M32 (sometimes named the Andromeda Nebula) which is the bright fuzzy ball to the lower right of Andromeda's center. M110 is the larger and more diffuse elliptical galaxy to the upper right. Eventually these two satellites will become part of Andromeda. It is thought that large galaxies like Andromeda and our Milky Way grew as big as they are by the absorption of many such smaller galaxies..

Andromeda can be found starting in fall, throughout the winter and into spring. In late autumn look to the Northeast and find Cassiopeia, the "W" in the Milky way. Look to the right and find the 4 bright stars that form the Great Square of Pegasus. Take the left hand corner star of the great square and count 2 bright stars back toward Cassiopeia, "star" number 3 is Andromeda. If you have any question whether you've spotted it, check it out with binoculars, it will be unmistakable. Hope you find it!

4" F5  refractor telescope piggybacked on a LX200 Meade scope tracking scope, Camera Canon 300D at prime focus
4 of 120 sec exposures, ISO 1600
4 photos averaged together, then brightness and contrast enhanced