Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

The Great Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is the nearest spiral galaxy to our own with diameter of about 220,000 light-years and is approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth with an estimated one trillion stars. Andromeda is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way. The galaxy's name stems from the area of Earth's sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda.

 

Visible as a faint smudge on moonless nights, it is one of the farthest objects visible to the naked eye. Like the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy has satellite galaxies. Two of the brightest, M32 and M110, can easily be seen in this image on either side of the core of Andromeda.

 

The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are expected to collide in around 4–5 billion years, merging to form a giant elliptical galaxy. The fate of our Solar System in such a collision is currently unknown. If the galaxies do not merge, the Solar System could be ejected from the Milky Way, or even join Andromeda!

 

Integration: 83 x 180s lights, 20 darks, 30 flats, 30 bias.

 

Telescope: Askar FRA400 72mm f/5.6 Quintuplet Petzval Flat-Field Astrograph

 

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro APS-C CMOS Color Cooled Astronomy Camera

 

Mount: iOptron HEM27

 

Filter: Optolong L-Pro Deep Sky Filter

 

Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF

 

Software: PixInsight, Photoshop

 

Guiding Telescope: William Optics 50mm UniGuide

 

Guiding Camera: ZWO ASI290MM Mini

 

Polar Alignment: iPolar

 

Bortle Class: 5

 

Integration: PixInsight

 

Post processing: PixInsight, Photoshop

 

Captured Sep 23, 24 2022

 

Full Resolution at Astrobin: astrob.in/pdwup3/0/

 

 

Done