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M 31, THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY on 2023-10-19

This photo was done in my backyard in Kyle, Texas through a 6-inch Sky-Watcher f/4 Telescope, on a Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, using a ZWO ASI533MC PRO color camera. The picture is a mosaic with 4 panels. 372 subs x 45 sec.

M 31, The Andromeda Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy and is the nearest major galaxy to our galaxy, the Milky Way, within which our Solar System resides. It was originally named the Andromeda Nebula and is cataloged as Messier 31, M 31, and NGC 224. The Andromeda Galaxy has a diameter of about 152,000 light-years and is approximately 2.5 million light-years from the Earth. The galaxy's name stems from the area of the Earth's sky in which it appears. From our view the galaxy is in the constellation of Andromeda. It is the largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, in which our Milky Way also resides. The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are approaching (falling toward each other due to gravity) at about 68 miles per second. They are expected to collide in around 4 to 5 billion years. They will merge to form a giant elliptical galaxy or possibly a large lenticular galaxy.

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M 31, THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY on 2023-01-13

This photo was done in my backyard in Kyle, Texas through a 4.5-inch f/4 Telescope, on a Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, using a ZWO ASI533MC PRO color camera. The picture is a mosaic with 4 panels. 102 subs x 60 sec.