M31 - Andromeda Galaxy

Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda. Together these two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies. The diffuse light from Andromeda is caused by the hundreds of billions of stars that compose it. The several distinct stars that surround Andromeda's image are actually stars in our Galaxy that are well in front of the background object. Andromeda is frequently referred to as M31 since it is the 31st object on Messier's list of diffuse sky objects. M31 is so distant it takes about two million years for light to reach us from there. [*]

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		My First M31 Equipment:  Orion ED80 Camera:  Unmodified Canon Rebel XT350D Prime Focus with a 2" adapter 92 - 30 seconds exposures ISO 1600 Darks, Flats, Offsets applied Stacked with DeepSkyStacker Processed with PhotoShop CS © 2007 Antonio Pascarella Published in the Sky & Telescope Magazine's Photo Gallery.
		Taken on 10/11/2008 - Processed on 3/31/2012 Orion ED80 Hap Griffin Modified Canon Rebel XT350D 26 180-second exposures ISO 800 Stacked with DeepSkyStacker Processed with Photoshop CS Darks, Flats, and Offsets applied © 2012 Antonio Pascarella