NGC 224, also known as the Andromeda Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located approximately 2.537 million light-years from Earth. It is the nearest large galaxy to our Milky Way and is part of the Local Group of galaxies. NGC 224 contains over a trillion stars and is about 220,000 light-years in diameter. The galaxy is visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing as a faint smudge in the night sky. NGC 224 is on a collision course with the Milky Way, expected to merge with it in about 4.5 billion years, forming a new galaxy.