M31, The Andromeda Galaxy

 (Click here for full sized image)

Spiral Galaxy

Magnitude 3.4

Size: Approximately 160' by 40'. (The diagonal of the mosaic spans 2.25 degrees)

Constellation: Andromeda

The Andromeda galaxy is a twin of our own Milky Way Galaxy. It is roughly 125,000 light years in diameter and is about 2 million light years from us. It spans over 3 degrees of sky, making it as wide as six moons stacked side-by-side!

To shoot this picture, a short focal length telescope was used to shoot two separate side-by-side images that were combined into this 2-pane image. Five hours of exposures were used to produce this image.

Imaging Equipment:

Exposure Information:

White-light:

26 exposures @ 3 minutes each

Red-light:

8 exposure @ 3 minutes

Green-light

8 exposure @ 3 minutes

Blue-light:

8 exposure @ 3 minutes

Total exposure time:

150 minutes, each of two panes

 

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