The Andromeda galaxy, also known as M31, NGC 224 and UGC 454, is the closest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. Here are some interesting facts about it

Distance from Earth: The Andromeda galaxy is about 2.537 million light-years from Earth. Despite this enormous distance, it is one of the few galaxies visible to the naked eye from the northern hemisphere.

Size and structure: Andromeda is considerably larger than the Milky Way, with an estimated diameter of about 220,000 light-years. Like the Milky Way, Andromeda is a spiral galaxy, with a bright core surrounded by spiral arms.

Number of stars: It is estimated that Andromeda contains about a trillion stars, almost twice as many as in the Milky Way.

Future collision with the Milky Way: Current predictions suggest that the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way will collide in about 4 billion years. This event will result in the formation of a new galaxy, sometimes called 'Milkomeda' or 'Milkydromeda'.

Satellites and companions: Andromeda has several satellite galaxies, including M32 and M110. These smaller galaxies are affected by Andromeda's gravity, and some may have interacted with it in the past.

Observation and study: The Andromeda Galaxy has been studied for many years, and continues to be an important area of research to better understand spiral galaxies and the formation and evolution of galaxies in general.

Cultural significance: Andromeda occupies an important place in culture and popular astronomy, being one of the most familiar and easily observable galaxies from our planet.

Its observation and study continue to provide valuable insights into the structure and evolution of the Universe.

As usual I took this picture from by backyard observatory. For this image I used my Skywatcher Esprit 80mm telescope mounted on a fixed mount with a concrete base. The camera used is the ASI294mm Pro, along with a set of RGB ZWO Filters and Optolong 3nm NB filter for Ha data. Each filter had an integration time of about 5 hours. I am not quite sure about the quality of the post-processing done with PixInsight; I tried to get the best out of it especially the Ha, but I am aware that I still have a lot to learn especially in Ha RGB images.

I hope you like the photo and I would be grateful for comments with constructive criticism: where can I improve? What doesn't work in this photo? What do you like and what don't you like?

I tried to keep the background neutral, without clipping, and not to oversaturate the colours of the galaxy.