Earth and the Nighboring Galaxy

The bright elongated halo between the clouds is the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Larger than the Milky Way and some 2.5 million light years away it is visible to naked eye in dark skies. From the photographer: “During a trip to Ladakh, Himalayas, close to the Tibet border, I was at Merak, site for the India’s National Large Solar Telescope, on the banks of Pangong Lake, 4,350 meters high.”