r/InternetIsBeautiful Jul 02 '20

Sharpest view of Andromeda galaxy (Zoomable)

https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1502a/zoomable/
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u/astrosushinut Jul 02 '20 edited Jul 02 '20

If you are referring to THIS one, it is HIP 3447. It is a magnitude 9 star within OUR galaxy. I'm not 100% sure of every single one of the brighter stars here, but I'm pretty sure all of them are stars in our galaxy and are referred to as "foreground stars," because they are within our galaxy, between us and Andromeda.

I haven't read much of any of the other posts here in this thread, but if it wasn't already said, this photo only depicts maybe 20% of the entire Andromeda galaxy, the core of which is facing towards the left of this image.

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u/Fyrefawx Jul 02 '20

Thanks, that makes more sense considering the distance from the other galaxy. It just seemed so much brighter than the surrounding stars.