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 Lost in the arms of Andromeda 


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Nebula Inside Arms
     

About:
The most distant object easily visible to the eye is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy some two and a half million light-years away. But without a telescope, even this immense spiral galaxy - spanning over 200,000 light years - appears as a faint, nebulous cloud in the constellation Andromeda. In contrast, details of a bright yellow nucleus and dark winding dust lanes, are revealed in this digital telescopic image. In this image also a data recording emission from hydrogen atoms, shows off the reddish star-forming regions dotting gorgeous blue spiral arms and young star clusters. While even casual skygazers are now inspired by the knowledge that there are many distant galaxies like M31, astronomers seriously debated this fundamental concept in the 20th century. Were these "spiral nebulae" simply outlying components of our own Milky Way Galaxy or were they instead "island universes" -- distant systems of stars comparable to the Milky Way itself? This question was central to the famous Shapley-Curtis debate of 1920, which was later resolved by observations of M31 in favour of Andromeda, island universe. [Text from APOD] [Text from APOD]



Optics: GSO RC 10" F8 2000mm - Astrograph Ritchie-Chrétien
Mount: AP Mach1 GTO on Gemini Q-Lock tripod
Camera: QSI-640WSG
Filters: Astrodon LRGB 1.25" I Series Gen II
Guiding Systems: SXV-AO-LF Active Optics - SX Lodestar
Dates/Times: 20 September 2015 / 10-19 October 2015 / 6-7 November 2015
Location: Pragelato - Turin - (Italy)
Exposure Details: L:R:G:B => 490:125:95:110 = > (49x10):(25x5):(19x5):(22x5) color Bin2 [num x minutes]
Cooling Details: -25°C
Acquisition: Maxim DL/CCD, Voyager
Processing: CCDStack2+, PS CS5
Mean FWHM: 1.68" / 2.78"
SQM-L: 20.45 / 21.13