Apart from our galaxy, the Milky Way, it might surprise you to learn that the largest thing you can see in the sky above the UK is not the Moon nor the Sun: it's M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.
The photo below is made up of shots of the full Moon and M31 taken with the same outfit (300mm prime and 1.4 converter) These were then superimposed: you'll see that the Andromeda Galaxy is considerably larger! What's more, the shortish exposure I used only captured the brightest central region - the whole object is larger still.
You might also be surprised to know that the Moon and Sun (which are exactly the same size in the sky) are only about as big as a pea at arm's length!
M31 is a barred spiral galaxy, just like the Milky Way: there are a a couple of others nearby: M32 and M101. Today's cheerful thought: in a few billion years M31 and the Milky Way will collide!
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