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The Andromeda galaxy (or
M31 or
NGC224),
named by the constellation in which it lies, is a spiral
galaxy about 2,5 million light years from earth
and is ca 140 thousand light years across. Together with our
own milky way, the Andromeda galaxy are the largest
constituents of the local galaxy group. The apparent size is
ca 190x60 arcmin, which makes it a good object for camera
lenses. Under dark skies it can be seen by the naked eye as
a "smudge". In suburban skies (like mine) one need
binoculars in order to see the "smudge". It is believed to
contain one trillion stars, which outnumbers our Milky Way.
Mouse over to see the location of other
objects in the image.
M110 (NGC205)
is a satellite to Andromeda. There are some star formation
in it which is unusual for a dwarf spiral galaxy.
Also M32
(NGC221
or Le Gentil)
is a satellite to Andromeda. It was discovered by Le Gentil
in 1749 and is an elliptical dwarf galaxy.
The brightest star in the image (SAO36699
or HIP3882)
is part of the Andromeda constellation.
I managed to improve the
processing somewhat increasing the detail in the galaxy and
getting better (more accurate) colours. I also zoomed out in
order to smoothen a little. The old image can be found below
for comparison. Maybe I go to far in the processing in order
to get out as much detail as possible. Below is also a less
processed image (there is some gradient and other stuff that
could be corrected, but going deeper into the details gives
a lot of space noise etc).
Old
processed image
Less processed image
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