- M32
- M110
- NGC 206
Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is one of the nearest galaxies in our local neighbourhood, and is visible to the naked eye from a dark site. Being so near, it also has a very large apparent size: the width of 6 full moons. The bright blue patch near the top left is designated NGC 206, and is a very large open cluster within M31. It has two satellite galaxies, M32 near the top left, and M110 near the bottom left.
The HII regions have been emphasized by layering an H-alpha exposure into the red and luminance channels.
This image was updated 18-October-2008. I gathered 3h45m worth of added luminance and blended with the original image, which helped me bring out some better contrast and detail in the central region.
View in World Wide Telescope (Requires install).
&creditsUrl=http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/&ra=10.6494233783&y=957&x=970&rotation=-14.08&dec=41.2890735555&thumb=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/112/317214228_c1bd7ba96c_t.jpg){kind=link}
Comments and faves
Michael Pancier Photography, Daz Hastings, chipdatajeffb, esther**, and 252 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Michael Pancier Photography (78 months ago | reply)
WOW. Looks amazing!
chipdatajeffb (78 months ago | reply)
Outstanding, Don! Nice catch on the glob and amazing dusty color near the core ... a true Fave!
albireo2006 (78 months ago | reply)
Wow! Fantastic
esther** (78 months ago | reply)
Amazing........!!!!!!!!!
lakewentworth (78 months ago | reply)
One of billions... make me feel insignificant. Beautiful shot.
brannach (78 months ago | reply)
Great capture!
poseidon_simons (78 months ago | reply)
that is beautiful. Where exactely can i spot it? i mena.. north? south?
nightmares_n_fairy_tales (78 months ago | reply)
--
Seen in the interestingness archives. (?)
~I SNIFFED out this wonderful image!
You deserve this nose worthy award!
Please ADD your
Impressively beautiful
photo to~
Impressed by your Beauty! (Invite only images)
Please tag your photos ImpressedBeauty
[?]
coyoteblues (78 months ago | reply)
Awesome capture!
Vaeltaja (78 months ago | reply)
Brilliant shot.
astroferg (78 months ago | reply)
That Tak. & SBIG combo is a one-two punch that just can't be beat! Great job! You really couldn't hope to see a better photo of M31 anywhere!
mattie_shoes (78 months ago | reply)
Oi! I need a shorter focal length scope! This is an awesome picture! :)
--
Seen on your photo stream. (?)
Hugues Michel (78 months ago | reply)
Wow ! Outstanding shot !!! Congratulations !
You are my winner!
Please add this photo to
www.flickr.com/groups/mywinners/
ricksoloway (78 months ago | reply)
It doesn't get any better... wow x 3
Jοey (78 months ago | reply)
Incredible detail! Framing, tracking, focus, and color are all excellent! 10 out of 10.
kystorms (78 months ago | reply)
this is so wonderful to look at, can you really see this in our sky and is it really 6 moons in length to our eye? Where and when might the best viewing be for this, would like to show my children.
kystorms (78 months ago | reply)
also, would you mind if i blogged this? thank you.
mix's (78 months ago | reply)
Thank you for sharing the image and the information.
--
Seen on your photo stream. (?)
magnocrat (78 months ago | reply)
yes indeed a mind boggling image only every seen it like this in books
Marco Libra (77 months ago | reply)
Really impressive!
photopavel (77 months ago | reply)
One can't loose with M31 capture :) Thank you for the beatiful image. That's what makes a great photographer - good timing. And your light setup is awesome too, i never went to this extent with a number of light sources! :)
laurenz (77 months ago | reply)
This image has been blogged at Outstanding Night Shots, the photolog of the Outstanding Night Shots and the Outstanding Sunrises/Sunsets groups.
koincidence (76 months ago | reply)
you take these through a telescope??? you must have a VVVERRRRYYYY big one?
DJMcCrady (76 months ago | reply)
Koincidence, actually my telescope is very small: 90mm aperture by 407mm focal length... you might have a camera lens that's about the same size. The galaxy is HUGE... if you could see the whole thing with your naked eye it would be bigger than SIX full moons. Thanks!
koincidence (76 months ago | reply)
that's amazing, I had no idea it is so 'easy' to take shots like these...
6 moons in size ??? wow! I'm surprised... so what's the secret?
I always imagined these things where absolutely miniature ...
:-o
DJMcCrady (76 months ago | reply)
Koincidence, the first secret is the mount, the second secret is the camera, and the last secret is the telescope. The most important element is a solid mount capabable of tracking the movement of the stars over long exposures. Tracking accuracy is greatly increased by the use of an autoguiding camera. The second element is a low-noise camera, which enables long exposures and high signal-to-noise. The last element is the telescope itself; you need one that has no chromatic abberation and delivers a flat field over a large CCD chip. Those are the secrets.
Indeed most galaxies are absolutely miniature, but this one is relatively nearby (2.3 million light years), so it's big. In about 1 billion years, it will collide with our galaxy.
Thanks!
koincidence (76 months ago | reply)
that's both fascinating and amazing!! it's the best thing I've heard on flickr
mattie_shoes (75 months ago | reply)
Trust me, taking a photo like this is very very 'not easy'. Trust me, I've tried!
In addition to the right equipment and the skill required, these photos take enormous amounts of time. He had the shutter open for FOUR HOURS! That's not including the time setting up equipment, aligning the telescope, some time in between images, switching out filters, probably taking darks, removing any bad images, combining the images, removing any light pollution gradients, doing other post-processing tasks, etc. etc....
The other thing is the dynamic range of the image. The core of the andromeda galaxy is so bright I can see it with the naked eye from my front porch (it looks like a faint greyish smudge on the sky). The outer edges of the galaxy are incredibly, incredibly dim. If you capture the outer portions, the core is blown out, just like if you had tried to take a picture of the sun. If you take a picture of the core, then the outer portions are far too dim to be seen.
--
Seen in my recent comments. (?)
augustusoz (73 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Pro Account Members, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Just beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
kampang (70 months ago | reply)
I only have one word to say SPEECHLESS!
Jelltex (69 months ago | reply)
Hmmmm, M31 just love this. I used to stare at images of this in a star catalogue when i was a child. More wonderful in colour. Stunning work.
picktorial [deleted] (68 months ago | reply)
If only we could see it better, but the light pollution where I am keeps viewing to a minimum.
Kathleen Andersen [deleted] (68 months ago | reply)
This is a fabulous shot. I've always wanted to try star/galaxy shots so your sets will inspire me to try for something beyond the full moon!
I'm the admin for a group called 1000+ Views (no people), and we'd love to have this, and any other 1000+ viewed photos, added to the group.
Skosh (68 months ago | reply)
Beautiful picture. I'm heading out tonight to search for Comet 17P/Holmes and maybe get a few shots.
laura's worlds (67 months ago | reply)
Feels like already traveling...
WOW amazing SCI-FI mood!!
You are invited to post it to The Asimov Club pooland meet other Asimov fans
kusula (67 months ago | reply)
amazing...kinda puts life into perspective
-- brian cameron -- (66 months ago | reply)
Amazing work. I love this.
naylordustin (65 months ago | reply)
The stars that you see in front of this galaxy are the outer part of our very own Milkey Way Galaxy
Ry@_Cut3 (63 months ago | reply)
amazing....that so beAuTiful
i like that
Shutter_Hand (63 months ago | reply)
Magnificient capture !!
This photo is seen in:
"Unlimited Photos"
Please tag this with:
"Unlimited Photos"
Yer Photo Xpression (63 months ago | reply)
Beautiful work!
jm5390 (62 months ago | reply)
Great image of the famous galaxy. The colors and resolution are great.
DenesG1-still off, computerproblems (57 months ago | reply)
Seen at:
*Saariy's Quality Pictures Gallery*
the yes man (57 months ago | reply)
Cosmic! Fantastic photograph- I've sent a link to this to my astronomy friend who is currently grappling with all the issues you've outlined re mount, guiding camera,, light pollution , etc . He is also adapting a camera chip with a cooling mehanism to help achieve a better image. I know he is struggling long and hard to get the results he craves. If he gets anything approaching this I know he will be delighted. Well done with this superb photography.
Firas MR [deleted] (55 months ago | reply)
wow! superb capture!
astrometry.net (54 months ago | reply)
Hello, this is the blind astrometry solver. Your results are:
(RA, Dec) center:(10.6494233783, 41.2890735555) degrees
(RA, Dec) center (H:M:S, D:M:S):(00:42:35.862, +41:17:20.665)
Orientation:-14.08 deg E of N
Pixel scale:14.78 arcsec/pixel
Parity:Reverse ("Left-handed")
Field size :2.05 x 2.02 degrees
Your field contains:
NGC 205 / M 110
NGC 221 / M 32
NGC 224 / Great Nebula in Andromeda / M 31
View in World Wide Telescope
-----
If you would like to have other images solved, please submit them to the astrometry group.
arizona85224 [deleted] (54 months ago | reply)
amazing
Samurai Blur (54 months ago | reply)
Fantastic. I always wonder if there are people in there looking at our galaxy!
Cygnus~X1 - Visions by Sorenson (54 months ago | reply)
Fantastic image! Great job putting this together.
--
Seen in a discussion of the group "Views: 1750" (?)