Mirach, Beta Andromedae, is the brilliant red star just below center in this image. Galaxy NGC 404, Mirach's Ghost, is to the upper right of Mirach. They are located in the constellation of Andromeda.

Mirach, an M-class red-giant star, is located 200 light-years away in our own Milky Way Galaxy. It is a bright star that shines at second magnitude, and is 100 times larger than our Sun.

NGC 404, also known as the Ghost of Mirach, is another entirely separate galaxy, located 10 million light-years away. The two are not related, they just happen to lie along the same line of sight.

NGC 404 is a type E-SO lenticular dwarf galaxy that shines at magnitude 11 and subtends an apparent size of 4.3 x 3.9 arcminutes in the sky. It is located 7 arcminutes to the northwest of Mirach.

NGC 404 was discovered by William Herschel in 1784.

North is to the top in the above image.

Mirach and NGC 404 Catalogs: Mirach and NGC 404 Common Name: Mirach, Ghost of Mirach Object Type: Star and Galaxy Magnitude: Mirach: 2.07 NGC 404: 10.3 Size: Mirach: Stellar NGC 404: 3.5' x 3.5' Constellation: Andromeda Image Field Centered At: RA: 01h 09m 42s Dec: +35° 38' 37"