Andromeda Galaxy
M31 / NGC 224
The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest neighboring galaxy, a mere 2.5 million light-years away. It is the only galaxy visible to the naked eye - but just barely. The galaxy is made up of around 1 trillion stars.
This is our best picture of the Andromeda Galaxy so far. Weather was nice (13°C, relative humidity 71%) and we were able to use 45 of the 48 frames we shot. In the picture there are also two satellite (“dwarf”) galaxies of Andromeda. To the left is M32 (NGC 221) and to the bottom right is M110 (NGC 205). There are even some extragalactic nebulae visible (brighter red/blue regions).
| Telescope | Skywatcher 200PDS (200/1000 Newton) |
| Filter | IDAS D2 (multi-bandpass light pollution filter) |
| Coma corrector | Skywatcher f/5 (0.9x reducer) |
| Camera | Canon 7D Mark II |
| Resolution | 1297 x 850 (scaled & cropped) |
| Light frames | 45/48, 300s @ ISO 400, 3h45m in total |
| Dark/Bias/Flat | 12/12/14 |
| Location | Bolton, UK |
| Local time | 2020-09-20 23:50 - 04:41 |
Over the years we have made several attempts at imaging the Andromeda Galaxy. The following picture is one our firsts, from 2008:
| Telescope | Skywatcher 200/1000 Newton (‘07 version) |
| Camera | Canon 400D |
| Resolution | 3888 x 2592 (cropped & scaled to 1932x1245) |
| Light frames | 3, 25s @ ISO 400 |
| 3, 50s @ ISO 400 | |
| 1:45m total | |
| Dark/Bias/Flat | -/87/- |
| Location | Dorog, Hungary |
| Local time | 2008-12-28 22:47:42 - 23:01:51 |