The photo shown above is of the gallaxy known to astronomers as Mirach's Gallaxy for its location along the line of sight to the bright star Mirach. The gallaxy itself is very faint and fuzzy, so it is hard to make accurate observations about it, however its presence is still well known to astronomers. Mirach's Ghost, or NGC 404, is actually a dwarf lenticular gallaxy in the constellation Andromeda, however the glare from Mirach or Beta Andromeda located only a few arc seconds away inhibits clear view. Mirach is a red giant star, and is suprisingly much larger than our sun, however it is much cooler so while it may shine brighter, it does not produce nearly as much heat. The gallaxy got its name from the diffraction spikes caused by the glare of the bright star when viewed by astronomers. In the picture, the bright center star is Mirach, and above and to the right, the smaller more distant blur is NGC 404, or Mirach's Gallaxy, estimated to be around 10 million light years away.
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