M31 Andromeda Galaxy (NGC 224) by Terry Hancock. M31 is a spiral galaxy around 2.5m light years from Earth in the constellation Andromeda. The galaxy is visible to the naked eye on moonless nights as a smudge of light and is the most distant object visible without a telescope. But the photographer from Michigan, USA, used the observatory in his backyard to reveal an enormous swirling spiral of billions of stars, glowing gas and dark dust. Andromeda will be even more impressive in 4.5bn years’ time, when it is expected to collide with our own galaxy, the Milky WayPhotograph: Terry Hancock/The Royal Observatory