Messier 31Messier 31 (M31) also known as the Andromeda Galaxy is in the constellation Andromeda and is best observed in October and November each year. The barred spiral galaxy boasts an apparent magnitude of 3.1 and the core of the galaxy can be seen with the naked eye, even in areas with moderate to low light pollution.  At 2.5 million light years away from Earth, it is the most distant object the human eye can see. At the core there is a massive star cluster of 200 million stars surrounding at least one supermassive black hole. M31, home to over one trillion stars is the largest galaxy in the local cluster that includes the Milky Way and is part of the Laniakea Supercluser which is home to 100,000 galaxies. Also shown in the image are two dwarf elliptical satellite galaxies that orbit M31. M32 (top left center of M31 outer rings), contains 400 million stars and M110 (bottom center) contains 10 billion stars. The spiral arms of the Andromeda Galaxy are being distorted by gravitational interactions with M32 and M110 respectively. The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the Milky Way Galaxy at a speed of 140 km per second or about 313,000 miles per hour. A galactic collision will occur between the galaxies in about 3.75 billion years in what will be an astonishing show of lights and a beautiful dance with orbital gravities. Such collisions are relatively common, considering galaxies' long lifespans. Andromeda, for example, is believed to have collided with at least one other galaxy in the past, and several dwarf galaxies such as Sgr dSph are currently colliding with the Milky Way and being merged into it.  The stars involved are sufficiently far apart that it is improbable that any of them will individually collide. Some stars will be ejected from the resulting galaxy, often nicknamed Milkomeda or Milkdromeda, a portmanteau of the respective galaxy names.Image CaptureThis image was captured in my backyard in Boerne Texas over five nights in October 2022 under Bortle 5 skies using a small APO refractor telescope with four Petzval elements. The scope has a focal length of 250mm, an aperture of 51mm, and a fast f/4.9 focal ratio paired with a dedicated cooled astronomy camera with a sensor running at a relative temperature of -15* C and a gain of 122.  Tracking of the target using an equatorial mount showed a combined error of less than 1.1 arc seconds over the total exposure length of 20 hours.-       260x180s (13.0 hours) of RGB exposure using a broadband multi-bandpass filter for light pollution.-       85x300s (7.08 hours) of exposure using a 7nm narrow bandpass filter that isolates the H-Alpha and Oxygen III emission lines to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio between nebulae.-       Images were pre-processed (stacked) in Deep Sky Stacker and post-processed with PixInsight.