Messier 31, the Andromeda Galaxy (Cory Schmitz)

Messier 31, the Andromeda Galaxy

A few weeks ago (July 4, 2013), I was in Wayne County, Iowa, in search of dark skies (Bortle grey). This was the last target I imaged on this trip, on a whim, because I had about an hour until dawn and was finished with my other targets. Oddly it is also the first deep-sky data from that trip I've processed.

It was very early in the season for M31, as it was low, but when you're in dark sky country -- it doesn't matter. This is what only 45 minutes of data gave me.

Total integration time: 45 minutes

9x5m sub exposures

ISO800 f/7.5

Calibration:

42 Dark

30 Flat

107 Bias

Equipment:

Vixen ED80sf 80mm APO refractor

Celestron CG-5 ASGT mount

Orion SSAG autoguider + 50mm guide scope

Canon T2i 550D DSLR (Baader IR modded)

Orion Field Flattener

Software:

Image acquisition with BackyardEOS

Guiding with PHD

Calibration/alignment/integration and post-processing with PixInsight

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Distribution of astrophotographers

This table shows the number of distinct astrophotographers who have been assigned and IOTD/TP award compared to the total number of images awarded.
	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

Distribution of subject types

This table shows the distribution of awards per subject type, compared to the popularity of images of that subject type.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

Distribution of data sources

This table shows the distribution of awards per data source, compared to the popularity of images acquired from that data source.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

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