Planetary camera observations of the double nucleus of M31

V- and /-band HST Planetary Camera images of the great spiral galaxy in Andromeda, M31, show that its inner nucleus consists of two components separated by 0". 49. The outer isophotes of the nucleus at 1". 4 2 X 10⁴ L_☉ pc^ (-3). The total nucleus cannot be modeled as the superposition of two systems each with elliptical and concentric isophotes. The dark zone between the two peaks is deep and is either evidence for strong dust absorption or that the nuclear components are steeply truncated in this region. No strong changes in the V-I color are observed over the nucleus, however. Thus if dust absorption the asymmetric nuclear morphology, the dust grain size must be unusually large or the dust optical depth must be extremely high. Alternatively the higher surface brightness, off-center nuclear component Pl may be a separate stellar system. The nuclear velocity dispersion profiles of Dressler however, the lifetime of Pl against orbital decay may be substantially longer than naive dynamical friction arguments would indicate. Under this picture, we that P 1 is more likely to be a cannibalized galactic nucleus, possibly having its own central black hole.