| Designation |
Messier
31 (NGC 224)
The Great Andromeda Galaxy
Also pictured NGC 205 (lower)
& M32
|
| Type | Spiral bar galaxy Type SA(s)bI-II |
| Constellation | Andromeda |
| Coordinates | Telescope centered at RA '00 42 58' - Dec '+41: 16: 10' |
| Magnitude | 3.4 |
| Size | 150,000 light years across (contains about 200-300 billion stars) |
| Distance | 2.2 million light years |
| Dimensions | 185' x 75' |
| Image Field | 142 x 91 arcminutes |
|
Notes:
|
M31 is our closest galactic neighbor. It has an absolute magnitude of -21.6 equivilent to about 40 billion suns. |
|
|
| Telescope | Takahashi FS60C f/5.9 on Losmandy G-11 with Gemini L3 |
| Focal Length | 264 mm @ f/4.4 with Takahashi focal reducer |
| Guiding | Starlight Xpress SXV guidehead through 10" SCT @ f/3.3 |
| Telescope Control | Maxim DL (V3) |
| CCD Camera |
Starlight Xpress SXV-H9 - USB 2 ExView progressive
scan
1392 x 1040 (6.45 uM) pixel array (8.98 x 6.71 active area)
|
| Image Scale | 5.23 arcsec/pixel |
| Filters |
1.25" Astronomik Type II Dichroic
IR blocking filters in Astronomik filter drawer - Clear, Red, Green,
Blue
|
| Exposures | Total exposure time: 180 minutes Luminance 120 (30x4) minutes unbinned, RGB 20 minutes each binned 2x2 |
| Calibration | Bias frames |
| Processing Software | Maxim DL, Photoshop CS (8.0) - Sigma combined |
| Location | Chiefland Astronomy Village, FL - 29.393 N , - 82.863 W |
| Date/Time | 11/23/03 '01:42:09' - '06:23:17' UT |
