M31: The Andromeda Galaxy

Click on image for larger version.

M31 is the closest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way. Located 2.3 million light years away one can easily find this in the Andromeda constellation with their naked eye on clear moonless nights. Historically speaking this galaxy is first mentioned by the Persian astronomer Al Sufi in the year 905 A.D. and can be found on star charts dating back before the invention of the telescope. On clear moonless nights away from city lights and with a pair of quality binoculars this object can be traced out to an angular size of 4 degrees. To give you a comparison the full moon has an angular size of just 1/2 a degree. NOAO has a nice image to demonstrate this angular scale.

Click on the image to the right to see the full resolution. Please visit HERE to see a higher resolution image of just the core. You can also see a high resolution image of M32 and NGC 205.

Equipment

Takahashi FSQ (106) refractor
SBIG ST10XME CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = combined RGB binned 1x1
 Red = 30 minutes binned 1x1
 Green = 30 minutes binned 1x1
 Blue = 30 minutes binned 1x1
  • This is a three frame mosaic. The exposure times refer to each frame.
  • The dynamic range of this image is compressed significantly to show the inner and outer features of the galaxy.

    • Minimum credit line: Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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    Updated: 09/08/2005