Optical photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) & its two dwarf elliptical satelites: NGC 205 (top right) & M32 or NGC 221 (bottom centre). Andromeda, a spiral galaxy, is some 2.2 million light years from our galaxy, the Milky Way, & measures some 170,000 light years across. It is the largest of the nearby galaxies being visible as a faint patch with the naked eye. Together with the Milky Way, Andromeda is one of the largest & most important members of the Local Group of galaxies.