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Hector42 — Andromeda Galaxy - M31
Published: 2006-06-12 22:53:10 +0000 UTC; Views: 9209; Favourites: 105; Downloads: 401
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Description
Non-astrophotographical description:M31 is a galaxy, very similar to our own galaxy (the Milky Way) but it doesn't have a central bar. Having a diameter of 250 000 light-years, M31 is nearly twice as big as our own galaxy but it contains less matter (1.2 trillion solar masses vs. 1.9 trillion solar masses). About 450 globular star clusters were found, orbiting around M31's nucleus. There are at least two other galaxies orbiting around M31, they are called M32 (the small bright one to the left) and M110 (the bigger and fainter one to the right). M31 and M32 are interacting, M32 deforms M31's disc by about 4000 light-years but M32 itself is loosing many stars in this interaction.
It's not sure if M31 has a double nucleus, if it has, it was the result of a collision with another galaxy, a while ago.
The trio M31/M32/M110 lies about 2.9 million light-years away and it's heading in our direction. In the far future, our galaxy and M31 will collide.
Astrophotographical description:
The image is a stack of 3 shots on film. Two have been taken using the Kodak Ektachrome 200 film and the third was exposed on Kodak Technical Pan 2415 (hypered).
Unfortunately one of the raw images is vertical while the other two are horizontal, so I've wasted quite much space :/ .
The raw images suffer from severe light pollution gradients but I was able to remove them very well I think. Only a colour variation in M31's disc is left over from that.
I hope you like the reworked version
.---
Telescope: GSO 8 " f/4 Newtonian optics in selfmade truss tube
Mount: Fast-Goto modified EQ6
Guiding: 60 mm f/15 achromat with 12.5 mm crosshair eyepiece
Camera: Nikon FE
Film: 2x Kodak Ektachrome 200 and 1x Kodak Technical Pan 2415 (hypersensitive)
Exposure: about 30 minutes each...I guess
Additional optics: coma corrector
Registar (stacking)
PixInsight (background correction, masked SGB noise removal, curves)
Photoshop (crop, histo, cosmetics, color balance)
Related content
Comments: 66
Thanks you and yes I took it throug an 8 inch Newtonian. It's a pretty old shot I could do much better with my current equipment and experience but I got very lazy with astrophotography
Also there are many better shots from this on deviantART. I just don't know my works I like least get faved and the ones I think are bombastic go largely unnoticed. lol
I'm proud of my version of the Horsehead though, don't know if you checked out my gallery.
Many thanks for fav, comment ad watch!
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You have some very good artwork, even if it doesn't look like it to you someone else might like it
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Tahnks you
Well, "new equipment" means stuff like the used Canon EOS 350D I bought. It's a damn lot better than film because film does not collect light after a specific exposuretime anymore. It's modded for astrophotography, I disassembled it and changed the stock IR-Blocker with one that transmits hydrogen alpha light. Else you have a hard time with all those red nebulae. The second mod I did to it is a cool mod where I attached a copper plate to the chip that lead out of the casing where it forms a hook. You can "hook" on an electrical cooling element and cool the chip so the image noise is very much reduced. See this for exaples and the look:
[link]
I haven't made any astroshot with the second modification yet -.- . It's still usable vor usual photography, the cooler is detachable
In addition I mounted a webcam to the guidescope for autoguiding, also I have a software now that times the camera's exposures. So I can make darkframes and images of the stars now without actually doing something when the night comes. Ok, there is still a lot to do, but it became much less complicated and teh results are much better. But as I said, I didn't work too often with all that stuff now, wich is actually a shame.
If you really are into astronomy you should consider a serius telescope, like an 8 inch newton or a 4 inch refractor or something in that class. Makes the things really much clearer ^^ . I'm rarely observing planets, the Newton is the wort choice for planets of course, but I enjoy Saturn's ring every time again and especially jupiter-sun-eclipses are cool because you can see the moon(s) and it's shadow (s) wandering across the whole Jupiter in just a few hours! And that happens every week 
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Ah, yes... NGC 224, sister spiral galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy, easily the brightest in Earth skies. I love the shot, wish my camera could take a clear shot of Andromeda... But alas, my camera can't even take the moon in full clarity. *sigh*
(Then again, it is amateur equipment...)
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Oh well, about the eqipment it's barely possible to become satisfied...bigger and bigger scopes, better and better cams...there is no end to it and no way out, once you have been cought in that circle of evil
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Hmmm... Maybe if my neighbors would turn off their outside light, i might be able to catch it... :3
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Wow, thank you, though I would consider my image as rather low quality. I have better Equipment now and will revisit this Galaxy some day
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This answer comes a bit late...but thank you
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You are very welcome
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I'm glad I found this, it's an excellent shot. Are you still shooting with film?
I'm learning, and I'm in the dark about processing.
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Sorry for the late answer. I began shooting with Technical Pan, because In my youth I couldn't afford a digital camera of any kind. The Technical Pan is the film with the closest behavior to a CCD chip of all films in existance. The most important thing there is the Schwarzschild-Effekt, wich makes a chemical film much less sensitive to light in function of the exposure time. Means you expose 1 minute and get 10 units of light. You expose 2 minutes and don't get 20 but...say 18. you expose 100 minutes and get stuck at 400 units of light, not 1000. At 200 minutes you might get 401 then lol. Ok ok, you get the idea
However, the Technical Pan is not procudec anymore and eve if so, I have got a modified DSLR now which is waaaay better. Although less romantic than chemical film lol.
Are you referring to the chemical developement of the film or digital post processing?
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My lab does a great job of processing slide film, so I was referring to post processing with photoshop. I've gotten a lot better. I do have a Beseler enlarger collecting dust, if I only had some tech-pan to play with.
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Not bad image of Andromeda.
This is my version:
[link]
Using a 300/2,8 lense.
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Thanks ^^ . Yours is much better...but you used CCD and I used a film which isn't even a good choice for other stuff than H2 nebulae. Man I wish I had a Canon EOS 350D ... or a Canon 5D like you xD 
Just visited your gallery - you have some awesome stuff there 
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Yes, digital gives you more to work on in astronomi photoes.
I'm most surprized i've got some of the colores in the M-31.
And...
Your father should give one of the Nikon's to you as a birthday - or christmas - present!!!
And yes...
You are 1500 km to far south to see Aurora in the sky.
Its nice on photo, but much better "live".
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Ya, he should...but he tends to have the feeling to need every bit of equipment he has, although he ist not that kind of a really active photographer. However, I got myself an EOS 350D now...seems to have a *much* better sensor actually
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Very nice. I will have to spend more time in your gallery to learn more for sure.
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Wow! I never knew you could take pictures of space like that! Look really amazing. Well done!
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It might not be in our lifetime but that Galaxy is going to crash into us.
God I love the Discovery Channel
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I don't know how the Discovery Channel performs in it's native language...I think they make many mistakes when they tanslate English into German...especially with scientific language...always they translate "silicon" with "silikon"...but "silikon" (in German) is a kind of stuff to caulk things in the bathroom...and not the semi-metallic element which meant with "silicon" in English...
Or they simply translate "sodium" or even "potassium" with "Sodium" respective "Potassium" but these words don't exist in the German language. These metals are called totally different, namely "Natrium" respective "Kalium" 
Clumsy translators...even in movies there are sentences popping out which must have been meant different in English...sentences which make no sense in German but much sence with respect to a suspected translation mistake in English (which naturally is the native language of many movies). Maybe I'm paranoid but sometimes I see such sentences popping out.
But for sure, the gags in many movies (Pulp Fiction: "don't be *points a square*" or "catch up -> ketchup") really suffer from not beeing told in their native language. These two gags in the Pulp Fiction movie are for sure senseless or even unnoticed by 90 % of the German watchers.
I know I can write whole novels when you give me one word...
Thanks for the fav, man!
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Please Do ! OMG
Wow, I wasnt expecting this message, thank you very much!!!!
You know I always wonder about that.. not that I think America is the center of the Galaxy "HONSTLY" But there have been a large amount of Pop Cultrure and Discoveries we have made, and since they are things we named in our language.. I wonder'D how it would translate
Such as Ketchup ... or other words that sound the same but may be different.
I was talking to a friend from Holland and he says his dictionary changes every now and then and sometimes he speaks other languages because its not as hard.
I dont know.
People who live in Spain speak Spanish, people who live in Mexico speak Spanish, however they will tell you they speak Mexican.. There is no Mexican , but the way their culture has progressed away from thier counter-parts have been totally different. Same with America and England.
We Speak English
Its so cool how man kind has gone from grunts and motions to what we have now, and I bet in the next 3000 years, God willing we havent blown ourselfs up, or turned to slaves by aliens...
how we will connect in lauguage then.
Cheers!
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Hmm there is something wrong with those yellow stars... they are too... yellow
But anyway - great shot!
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Thanks mate! ^^
Hmm, I like those...maybe it's because the E200 film has it's strength in capturing red. Anyway, there is a lack of colour data, the colour shots should have had a longer exposure to give colour to the fainter stars and the faint parts of the galaxy.
I hope to make one kick-ass mosaic some day...maybe this day isn't too far away... ^^
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I always liked your astronomy photographs
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Hello! 
Here's the journal if you'd like a looky: [link]
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Thank you very very much for everything 
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You're welcome hun
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man, this is it!!!! Fantastic work!! the tracking is spot on. Very nicely exposed with no core burnout!!
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