M-31 - The Andromeda Galaxy

There's no need to go on about M-31 -- clearly one of the most beautiful and photographed DSOs. Rob Gendler's M-31 just about takes your breathe away (click here). Note how Gendler captures multiple colors. He emphasizes that his processing, which is truly spectacular, is done to suit his aesthetic taste. I've processed more than one version from these subs, but this one is my favorite. Why? Because the "rifts" or dust lanes are so plainly obvious. As Eric Jacob notes, someone ought to sweep this "dirty" galaxy up.

In any case, here are a few quick points about the Great Galaxy in Andromeda. First, M-31 is a naked eye object from a reasonably dark site. Interestingly, the photons that we see or collect have been on their way for about 2.2 million years. In other words, long before there was a sentient, cosmically aware species on Earth those photons were making their way here. M-31 is one of if not the most distant naked eye DSO.

Second, M-31 is a so-called sister galaxy, part of the local cluster. The local cluster has two giants -- M-31 and the MWG -- some fair sized sisters such as the SMC and LMC, and M-33 -- and a slew of little elliptical galaxies. (There's an interesting visual of the local cluster here.)

And finally, gravity is bringing our own Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy together. They are approaching each other at an incredibly fast rate of speed. There's a good chance that they will merge when the rendezvous is finally complete.

Acquisition and Processing
SV115 at f/5.6 on the CGE, SBIG ST2000XCM, 17 subs at 3 minutes, acquired using CCDSOFT v.5, processed in ImagesPlus 3, beta9 and PhotoShop CS2.