Andromeda at 1000mm

I will never get bored of seeing people react when learning for the first time that our closest galactic neighbour – the Andromeda Galaxy has an angular diameter in our skies of approximately 3 degrees. The Full Moon is about 0.5 degrees across , so Andromeda is about six times bigger which is amazing thing to consider given that it is 2.5 million light years away so even at that incredible distance it takes up a noticeable amount of real estate in our skies.

 

This image (which is far, far from perfect) is comprised of the first photons captured in my new telescope from my back garden in North West UK. With a focal length of 1000mm and a crop sensor camera, the Andromeda Galaxy is much too large to fit into a single frame. A full moon at this magnification would take up just over half of this field of view.

 

Equipment:

-Skywatcher EQ6-R pro

-Skywatcher Quattro 10s (254/1000 - f3.9)

-Skywatcher Aplanatic Coma corrector

-ZWO ASI 294MC-pro (imaging camera)

-Optolong L-pro

-Skywatcher Evoguide 50ED

-ZWO ASI 120-MM mini (guide camera)

 

Acquisition:

-Lights: 58 x 120s, gain 125, offset 30

-Darks: 30

Done