This APOD picture depicts a bright star known as Mirach. Mirach, the beta star in the constellation of Andromeda, is a red giant about 200 light years away. Another object of interest in the photo is a galaxy known as NGC 484, or Mirach's Ghost, which can be seen as the blurry spot to the upper right of the star. The galaxy, some 10 million light years distant, is given its ghostly moniker due to the fact that it often appears dim and fuzzy when seen through a telescope next to Mirach. This is because bright light causes certain aberrations, or distortions, to telescopic images. Such aberrations can be seen here in the form of the glare and the colorful lines (called "diffraction spikes") that seem to be erupting from the star.
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