The Andromeda galaxy, or M31, the Milky Way’s largest galactic neighbour, as viewed by ESA’s Gaia satellite using information from the mission’s second data release.
This view is not a photograph but was compiled by mapping the total density of stars detected by Gaia in each pixel of the image.
Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); A. Moitinho / A. F. Silva / M. Barros / C. Barata, University of Lisbon, Portugal; H. Savietto, Fork Research, Portugal