M31 The Andromeda Galaxy imaged on July 18, 2020 at Fort Griffin, TX.

I shot M31 back in October last year from the house (Bortle 8 skies) and only collected about half an hour of data. This time the combination of Bortle 2 skies at Fort Griffin and more time on the target really made a big difference.

The Andromeda Galaxy is one of the most distant objects visible with the naked-eye. It’s located in the Constellation Andromeda as the name might suggest, and is roughly 2.5 million light-years away. It’s on a slow collision course with our own Milky Way galaxy. Two satellite galaxies of M31 can be seen in this image. M32 is just to the left of center and M110 at lower right.

Acquisition Details:
Date: July 18, 2020
Scope: Meade Series 6000 70mm Quad APO Refractor
Camera: Nikon D5100 (ISO 200)
Mount: Celestron Advanced VX
Guide Scope: ZWO 30 F4 MINI
Guide Camera: ASI120MMmini
Filter: None
Integration: 45 x 120s (1 hrs. 30 min.)
Software: Astro Photography Tool, Deep Sky Stacker, Adobe Photoshop 2020, PhotoKemi Star Tools
20 Darks