M31, The Andromeda Galaxy
(Above: Ruddy Dust Lane View... Scroll down for others!)
Scroll down to see various views of this nearby galaxy...
Above: The ruddy dust lanes of M31 have always intrigued me. I took some fresh images during the 2007 Davis Mountains trip and processed to enhance that feature. Image above composed of "only" 16x4 minute = 64 minutes total exposure, ISO 1600. Canon EOS 20Da (unmodified), ISO 800, Takahashi TOA 130 (a 5" APO refractor) with flattener, and Astro-Physics AP 900GTO mount. Davis Mountains, TX, 10/2007. I used my Current DSLR Workflow including the Lab technique to accentuate the colors. Previously called: M31: Another Perspective
M31, Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda galaxy can be seen as a hazy patch with the naked eye from a dark site. Therefore, it is the most distant object you are likely to see with the unaided eye. It is easily visible with binoculars. In fact, it is too large to fit into the largest field of view of many telescopes, so it is best appreciated with binoculars. M31 is about 2,900,000 (2.9 million) light years away, and is the nearest major galaxy to our own "Milky Way." Below M31 is another, much smaller galaxy, M110 (seen only in next image, below). M32 is another galaxy shown in this shot; it is located just above and to the left of M31.
Famous: The Andromeda Galaxy was really made famous by a Star Trek episode in which Andromedons (?) hijacked the enterprise for a 200+ year journey to our nearest galaxy.
Image Notes: Check out the different color balances on these images. Which do you prefer?
Note the noise and color shift on the bottom image on the far right. That's where the exposures didn't quite overlap. The result is lots of extra noise on the right edge. The top image is a "stack" of about 10 individual exposures over two nights using a Canon 20Da DSLR on my Takahashi TOA 130 (a 5" APO refractor). Exposures were 4 minutes each at ISO 800. Top image: Bias and dark frame processing using Images Plus.
 A starting point for the M31 images on this page: Pretty Flat! |  1st Cut 20Da image. Stack of 6 images, 4 minutes each, ISO800, no darks/lights/in-camera noise reduction. 1200 pixels wide. Some Photoshop Lab processing to accentuate the color differences by steepening the 'a' and 'b' curves. | Featured Astronomy Photos |
Film Images of M31 | Galaxy Index | The new Canon 20Da page. |
 M31, Best Film Effort: See exposure data at bottom of page |
Combination of 4 images of about 1, 2, 3, and 4 minutes duration at ISO 1600. Ambient temperature in the mid 30's (F). Takahashi FS-102 with focal reducer, full frame. Autoguided with the STV. |
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Best Film Effort Photo image above Info:
Composite of 4 photos of about 1 hour duration each, details to follow
Tak FS-102 prime focus with reducer at 610mm focal length, f5.9
SBIG STV autoguider using Celestron ST-80 guidescope
Losmandy GM-11 mount, Kodak LE 400 film, OM1n camera
Negative Scan, Nikon Coolscan IV ED, Processed in Photoshop
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