M 31 - the Milky Way's big brother

[RickS]

Another image captured from SRO in California, M 31 is a favourite of northern hemisphere imagers. What they don't tell you is how bl**dy difficult it is to process! I've tossed away a lot of earlier attempts :)

Captured at SRO, 17 Sep - 30 Oct, 2015

Objects in image:
M31, M110, M32, NGC206

Scope: Ceravolo C300 @ f/4.9 = 1470mm FL
Mount: AP1100
Camera: FLI PL16803
Focuser: Atlas
Filters: Astrodon
Guiding: Lodestar II / Tak guide scope
Image scale: 1.26 arcsec/pixel (drizzled to higher res)
Exposures: 20x1200s + 6x60s R, 17x1200s + 6x60s G, 19x1200s + 6x60s B, 27x1800s Ha (~32.5 hours)
Processing: PixInsight 1.8

Acquisition credit: John Kasianowicz, Daniele Malleo, Leonardo Orazi, Rob Pfile, Rick Stevenson and Jerry Yesavage.
Processing credit: Rick Stevenson

High res version on Astrobin (check out the 1:1): http://www.astrobin.com/full/223013/0/

The attached images show the location of M31-V1, the Cepheid Variable used by Hubble to calculate the approximate distance of the Great Andromeda Nebula and finally prove that it was a separate galaxy distant from the Milky Way (thanks to RobF for the idea!)

There's a fascinating atlas of the Andromeda Galaxy here: https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/ANDROMEDA_Atlas/frames.html

Cheers,
Rick.

[Somnium]

amazing work Rick ! it looks great

[gregbradley]

That's a terrific image of M31 Rick. It may have been hard but the results speak for themselves. A shame it didn't all fit in the field of view. The dust lanes are very clear.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Well looking at the plethora of subtle bits and pieces throughout the galaxy I am not surprised it may have been difficult to process Rick but the finished product was worth it. Opening the full resolution version on Astrobin was a treat to pan around, great work :thumbsup:

Mike

[RickS]

Thanks, Aidan.



Thanks, Greg. Yes, we should have done a mosaic but at 30+ hours a panel it's a big commitment.



Ta, Mike! It's such a huge object full of cool stuff. Everything you could imagine... with the exception of worms :D

Cheers,
Rick.

[Atmos]

The amount of detail in the galaxy is breath taking, wonderfully done :-)

[strongmanmike]

Cepheid worms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyasgr9mn3s) the Step - Reach Relationship :D

[Camelopardalis]

Stunning Rick :thumbsup: although could use a bigger sensor to capture the extremities ;)

[RB]

Wow Rick, the hi res image is amazing, well done.
I can look at that for ages.
Thanks for sharing.



Mike, is it El Wopo's Birthday already?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ROhP_3-Qk

RB

:lol:

[strongmanmike]

Great scene that :lol:

....now, back to Ricks Andromeda Galaxy, great work Rick, a large or excessive amount of stuff (without worms or manufactured dot detail) everywhere :eyepop: :thumbsup:

Mike

[omegacrux]

WOW nice

David

[LucasB]

What a superb image! Amazing detail and so much to explore. Love it
Lucas

[RobF]

Beautiful work Rick - aesthetically and image quality. Really enjoyed exploring this one. Time invested has paid off handsomely.

Amazing to see where "that star" is located - and that they were able to monitor the light curve of such a distant star at that time.

[Fabiomax]

Really a nice M31, very interesting reference to Cepheid counts miles ...!

[Placidus]

Quite stunning, Rick. Finding the famous Cepheid is very special.

[cazza132]

Wow - awesome resolution! Also managed the dynamic range well. One of the best Andromeda Galaxy images I have seen! :thumbsup:

[Andy01]

Crikey Rick, that's stunning! Amazing results - lost for words really :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[SimmoW]

Yeah, it's so sharp and detailed! A grand tour in high rez, well done Rick and imaging team.

[Slawomir]

Taking in splendid detail in full resolution was a wonderful treat for the soul...

Thank you Rick for sharing with us the fruits of your hard work.

[Rod771]

Super result, Rick! Excellent fine detail. :thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

Whoa, thats pretty excellent Rick, your getting dangerously close to the mega mosaic Robert Gendler did, not a lot in it without zooming in.

[RickS]

Thanks, Colin.





Thanks for the funky inchworm music and kind comments, Mike :lol:



Thanks, Dunk. I'll tell my wife you think I need a new camera :thumbsup:



Thanks, RB.




Thanks, David.



And Lucas...



Ta, Rob. Have you seen the images of the actual photographic plates?

http://obs.carnegiescience.edu/PAST/m31var



Thank you, Fabiomax.



Thanks, M&T!



Thanks, Troy!



Thanks, Andy!



Thanks, Simon. And three cheers for our automated scope :lol: It never complains despite the cold and isolation... well not much.



Thank you, Suavi. There's some hard work that we don't mind doing. Despite the frustration it's all worthwhile when you finally bend those photons to your will :D

[RickS]

Ta, Fred! Would love to do a high res mosaic one day. The seeing at SRO would certainly allow it.

[RickS]

Thanks, Rod!

[RobF]

Thanks Rick - hadn't seen those pics of Hubble's original emulsion plates. Mind boggling really.

Have been checking out your 1:1 again tonight. Amazing resolution, even off the jpg. Fantastic tightness of the stars. Just love M31 and this is up there with the best.

[Ryderscope]

I'm particularly impressed Rick with the processing in the core of the galaxy as it moves smoothly from a bright (but not overdone) core out to the dust lanes and beyond. A stunning and beautiful result.
:thumbsup::D

[RobF]

Good thing Hubble was shooting with more than a 4" refractor too or he probably wouldn't have seen anything on that plate. Just for comparison, had a dig back for Lum master when shot this sucker from Leyburn in 2013. :lol:
Wasn't using autofocus back then but suspect wouldn't have made that much difference at 387mm FL.

But gosh those Ceravolos are weapons of mass destruction!

[RickS]

Thanks, Rodney!



Apparently, it's not impossible with a 4" frac :) Here's M31-V1 in another 2013 image from Leyburn with a FSQ-106ED, STL11K and a whole 90 minutes of LRGB.

The C300 definitely does it better :thumbsup:

[Leonardo70]

Great resolution Rick and great processing ... i know the data and you get out a fantastic hires .

All the best,
Leo

[RickS]

Thanks, Leo. I'm looking forward to what you can do with some of that SRO data!

Cheers,
Rick.

[Shiraz]

Wow, that is an excellent image - it just looks "right".

[RickS]

Thanks, Ray!

[marco]

Great detail Rick, the superiority of SRO seeing is well visible in images like This one! Nice process and very beautiful view of a classic!
Cheers
Marco

[RickS]

Thanks, Marco.

[astronobob]

Astounding quality there Rick'ster, havent seen any better than this actually, tho I know not where to look, Lol, u know what I mean, Lol - but hey all the detail is awesome, clear & sharp, - I especially like the M110 detail too, dont see that often !!! Well done !!

[RickS]

Thanks very much, Bob!

[multiweb]

Superb resolution. The highres is great to surf around. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[RickS]

Thanks, Marc!

[Paul Haese]

Awesome resolution. Detail is superb with many nebulae seen in detail. Blue star clusters are also well shown. The colour saturation is great. Pretty smooth back ground too. Nice work.

[RickS]

Thanks, Paul!

[IceMike]

Wow! That's an amazing image. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Mike

[RickS]

Thanks, Mike.