M31 The Andromeda Galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, our galaxy. Andromeda is sometimes called M31 or NGC 324 by astronomers. It is about 2.6 million light years away from us.
Andromeda is the largest galaxy of the Local Group, which consists of the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, the Triangulum Galaxy, and about 30 other smaller galaxies. Although the largest, Andromeda may not be the most massive. Recent findings suggest that the Milky Way contains more dark matter and may be the most massive in the grouping.
The 2006 observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope revealed that M31 contains a trillion stars (1012). This is more than the number of stars in our own galaxy, which is estimated to be c. 200-400 billion.
Andromeda is estimated to be 7.1×1011 solar masses. In comparison, a 2009 study estimated that the Milky Way and Andromeda are about equal in mass, while a 2006 study put the mass of the Milky Way at ~80% of the mass of Andromeda.
At an apparent magnitude of 3.4, the Andromeda Galaxy is notable for being one of the brightest Messier objects, making it visible to the naked eye on moonless nights even when viewed from areas with moderate light pollution. Although it appears more than six times as wide as the full Moon when photographed through a larger telescope, only the brighter central region is visible to the naked eye. Being both large and bright, it is one of the farthest objects that can be seen without a telescope or binoculars.
The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the Milky Way at about 100 to 140 kilometers per second (62 to 87 mi/s), so it is one of the few blue-shifted galaxies. The Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way are thus expected to collide in perhaps 4.5 billion years. A likely outcome of the collision is that the galaxies will merge to form a giant elliptical galaxy. Such events are frequent among the galaxies in galaxy groups.

Equipment Details 
Camera: Canon EOS T3i/600D (Un-Modified) 
Lens: Canon 75-300mm set at 300mm F5.6
Exposure: 3.5 Minutes (210 Seconds) Each 
ISO: 1600
Number of Stacked Images: 161
Number of Dark Frames: 85
Number of Bias Frames: 45
Mount: Celestron CG4 with Clock Drive
Stacking Software: DeepSkyStacker
Processing Software: Photoshop CS6, Camera Raw
Shooting Date/Time 11/3/2015 10:05:21 PM

Image is from Tom Pickett