Traditional view at visible wavelengths of the Andromeda galaxy, which shows the starlight instead of the dust. The center of the galaxy in this optical view is dominated by a large bulge that overwhelms the inner spirals seen in dust. The dust lanes are faintly visible in places, but only where they can be seen in silhouette against background stars. This bulge is far less pronounced in the Spitzer 24-micron infrared images (BG2989 and BG2990), allowing us to see the delicate tracings of spiral arms in the inner region that reach into the center of the galaxy.