M31: Andromeda (base16)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Andromeda (And) · Contains: Andromeda Galaxy · HD3447 · HD3765 · HD3969 · HD4143 · HD4174 · HD4322 · M 110 · M 31 · M 32 · NGC 205 · NGC 206 · NGC 221 · NGC 224

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M31: Andromeda

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M31: Andromeda

From Northern Hemisphere latitudes, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is best seen from August to February. M31 is considerably larger than our galaxy, being approximately 260,000 light-years across compared to only 100,000 light-years for the Milky Way.

There are around one trillion suns in the Andromeda Galaxy, compared to between 100 and 400 billion stars for our own Milky Way galaxy. Despite the physical size of M31 being over two and a half times that of the Milky Way and containing several times the number of its stars, the mass of the Andromeda Galaxy is only 400 billion times that of our own Sun. The Milky Way is imagined to be considerably heavier because it probably possesses more Dark Matter and Dark Energy than M31.

It's hard to see in this image, but what sets Andromeda apart from our own galaxy is that it has a double-nucleus, likely because somewhere between five and nine billion years ago, two smaller galaxies merged, and the nuclei are now in orbit around each other. One of the compact star clusters is designated P1, while P2 is dimmer but contains a black hole. They will eventually blend into one body in a few billion years.

At this very moment our Milky Way Galaxy & Andromeda Galaxy (in this picture) are approaching each other between 100 and 140 kms/s (60-87 miles/sec). In about 4 billion years we’re going to merge, probably having a triple nucleus for a while, while the stars we are familiar with will also form new constellations, but eventually the galactic collision will settle down resulting in a brand new massive elliptical galaxy.

Taken with an Askar FRA500 with LRGB & Ha.
15mins of R,G,B (30 sec subs)
30mins L (30 sec subs)
2 hours of Ha (5min subs)

ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
N.I.N.A. Users

Please note: The following tables are updated every 24 hours.

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
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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

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	6267771
PixInsight job	F2A1D8ZVLQYJ6HZ77TZGOI2LC14NIHQ4
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	00h42m45s.12
RA (top/left)	00h47m48s.40
RA (top/right)	00h47m22s.60
RA (bottom/right)	00h37m29s.80
RA (bottom/left)	00h38m19s.92

Dec (center)	+41°16′03″.3
Dec (top/left)	+39°56′52″.6
Dec (top/right)	+42°39′17″.7
Dec (bottom/right)	+42°34′25″.2
Dec (bottom/left)	+39°52′09″.9

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M31: Andromeda

M31: Andromeda

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Image Index:

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M31: Andromeda

M31: Andromeda

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