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Birthday · November 13, 2023

Andromeda over the Alps

November 13, 2023

On the day you were born, the universe did what it has always done best: transformed chaos into beauty.

Andromeda over the Alps

A little universe, just for you

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APOD published November 13, 2023. Credit: Dzmitry Kananovich. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

Behind the image

Andromeda over the Alps

Original APOD · November 13, 2023

Have you ever seen the Andromeda galaxy? Although M31 appears as a faint and fuzzy blob to the unaided eye, the light you see will be over two million years old, making it likely the oldest light you ever will see directly. The featured image captured Andromeda just before it set behind the Swiss Alps early last year. As cool as it may be to see this neighboring galaxy to our Milky Way with your own eyes, long duration camera exposures can pick up many faint and breathtaking details. The image is composite of foreground and background images taken consecutively with the same camera and from the same location. Recent data indicate that our Milky Way Galaxy will collide and coalesce with Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years. Follow APOD on Facebook in: Arabic, English, Catalan, Portuguese, or Taiwanese

Image credit: Dzmitry Kananovich

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