Andromeda Galaxy

The Story

One of the most iconic deep-sky objects, the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) dominates the Local Group along with our Milky Way. Located about 2.5 million light-years away, M31 is a majestic barred spiral extending over 220,000 light-years in diameter, containing roughly one trillion stars.

Its structure reveals intricate lanes of dark dust winding around a bright core dense with ancient yellow stars, while the outer regions glow with the blue light of young star clusters in formation. The image also clearly shows its two main satellite galaxies: M32, a compact elliptical located right above the disk, and M110, a more diffuse dwarf elliptical positioned below the arms of the main spiral.

The observation and analysis of Andromeda are fundamental to understanding galactic evolution, as it is destined to merge with the Milky Way in about 4.5 billion years.

Technical Data

• Camera: Nikon D5300
• Mount: Omegon Minitrack LX3
• Integration: 2h30
• Software: TStar