This view of the Andromeda galaxy is rather unique because it also features clouds of gas and dust that lie inside our own Milky Way galaxy.
Astrophotographer Rogelio Bernal Andreo took this image from California in December 2016.
In an email to Space.com, Andreo said the image may be the first known image of Andromeda (also known as M31) that "also shows, at high resolution, depth and full color, several of the cloud formations from our own Milky Way that happen to be in this very same field of view — but much closer to us than M31." [See more awesome Andromeda Galaxy photos]
The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light years from the Milky Way and is our closest galactic neighbor. Andromeda is visible at night with the naked eye and contains hundreds of billions of stars. Together, the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies dominate what's known as the Local Group of galaxies.
"The fact I was able to produce such unexpectedly gorgeous view of M31 'surrounded' by real clouds based on actual data, in a first-of-its-kind photograph is both humbling and tremendously exciting," Andreo said.
You can see more amazing night sky photos by our readers in our astrophotography archive here.
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