M-31, The Andromeda Galaxy, Click on image to see a downloadable full resolution image ( 6.2mb)

This is a picture of our galactic neighbor, the spiral galaxy known as M31 or the Andromeda Galaxy. In 4 - 5 billion years our Milky Way and Andromeda, will begin to pass through each other. The momentum will carry them through each other, and then beyond. Their mutual attraction will stop the momentum, and cause them to come together again. Over a number of increasingly shorter yo-yo cycles the two will merge into a new larger elliptical galaxy. Andromeda is the only galaxy, and the most distant object that we can see with our unaided eye. With  binoculars it is a great sight, and a  "there it is!!" moment when you spot it. It is between Cassiopeia and the Great Square of Pegasus, and at it's best in the early evening hours of September-October. The individual stars in this picture are actually foreground stars in our our Milky Way. With the most powerful telescopes, the bigger and brighter stars in Andromeda can be resolved. But even with the world's best telescopes and cameras, stars like our sun are just too faint to be seen. The galaxy we see here is the diffuse collective glow of the several hundred billion stars of Andromeda.

There are 2 baby or satellite  galaxies around Andromeda. They are known as M32, the bright, round, fuzzy ball to the lower right of Andromeda's center and M110, the larger, elliptical shaped, and more diffuse galaxy to the upper left. Eventually these two satellites will become part of Andromeda. It is thought that large galaxies like Andromeda, as well as our own Milky Way grew as large as they are by the absorption of many such smaller galaxies..

Andromeda can be found starting in fall, throughout the winter and into spring. In late autumn look to the Northeast and find Cassiopeia, the "W" in the Milky way. Look to the right and find the 4 bright stars that form the Great Square of Pegasus. Take the left hand corner star of the great square and count 2 bright stars back toward Cassiopeia, "star" number 3 is Andromeda. If you have any question whether you've spotted it, check it out with binoculars, it will be unmistakable. Hope you find it!

4" F5.4  refractor telescope (TeleVue NP101) on an Astrophysics (AP1100) tracking mount,

Canon 5D Mark II camera, at prime focus
Ten 300 sec exposures, at ISO 1600

photos averaged together, then brightness and contrast enhanced