an image of a very large galaxy in the sky

This shot of our closest galactic neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy (M31) was taken during the new moon phase in bortle 9 skies. It required approximately 5.5 hours of exposure time through constant 45 second captures. The distance from Earth to M31 is a mind-boggling 2.5million light years and even so, we can see its galactic core with the naked eye, from bortle 5 skies or lower. This telescope and tracker was used: William Optics z61 + Skywatcher Star Adventurer