You all know this one ... Andromeda is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way (approx 2.5 million ly away), and similar to ours in size and structure. It's huge -- even at that distance it appears about 6 full moons across.
M31 is so bright that it can be seen with the naked eye from dark skies, and I regularly catch it through binoculars even from downtown Toronto.
She also has a couple of companion galaxies -- M32 is the small one above it, and M110 is the elliptical one below it.
All of the (non-galaxy) stars in this field are part of our Milky Way, and relatively nearby -- positioned between us and the distant galaxies. Think of it as if you're looking through snowflakes at a distant object.
Details for astronerds:
L:Ha:R:G:B (minutes) = 80:120:25:25:35
Camera = STL11000
Telescope = Takahashi FSQ 85-EDX
Mount = EQ6 Pro
Location: LRGB from Eastern Ontario, Canada (dark skies) and H-alpha
from Toronto, Canada (light-polluted skies)
Software = capture and alignment in Maxim DL, post-processing in PS
CS2
Thanks for looking!
Adam
achrntatrps, elfinpoet, jpstanley, racing.mike, and 50 other people added this photo to their favorites.
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write_adam 12 months ago | reply
To collirob, Lacobrigo, Ren A, Dliyaul Mushthafa, and Iregoli -- thank you for the good words! Sorry that I'm somewhat behind on reading the comments.
BudgetAstro 9 months ago | reply
This has just been uploaded by NASA Blueshift Adam:)
And it makes my recent effort look pretty sick ;)
mrwarmage 5 months ago | reply
"This image was selected as picture of the day on the English Wikipedia for December 15, 2012." Well done, sir.
write_adam 5 months ago | reply
Thanks Doug and MrWarmage!