Just getting back into astrophotography after quite a few years of observing visually. A new camera, updated software, it seems like I am learning all over again.
For a first run I processed a monochrome image of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. A quick run of fourteen luminance frames, 8 at 5 minutes, 6 at 60 seconds combined into a single frame.
M31 or the Andromeda Galaxy, with M110 visible above and M32 visible below the core
I have color data for this image, but that will be a lot more processing. Given all of the various filters and calibration frames I really need to get the automated batch processing running before I do much color work.
Dots show locations of stars in the Keck Observatory spectroscopic survey superimposed on an image of Andromeda. Credit: Claire Dorman/ESAA detailed study of the motions of different stellar populations in Andromeda galaxy by UC Santa Cruz scientists using W. M. Keck Observatory data has found striking differences from our own Milky Way, suggesting a more violent history of mergers with smaller galaxies in Andromeda’s recent past. The findings are being presented on Thursday, January 8, at the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle.
The structure and internal motions of the stellar disk of a spiral galaxy hold important keys to understanding the galaxy’s formation history. The Andromeda galaxy, also called M31, is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way and the largest in the local group of galaxies.
“In the Andromeda galaxy we have the unique combination of a global yet detailed view of a galaxy similar to our own. We have lots of detail in our own Milky Way, but not the global, external perspective,” said Puragra Guhathakurta, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
The new study, led by UC Santa Cruz graduate student Claire Dorman and Guhathakurta, combined data from two large surveys of stars in Andromeda conducted at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii as well as data from the Hubble Space Telescope.
So I shot M31… yet again. I admit I enjoy this target, it is just so much fun. I always think I can do a little bit better. It is color balance that has been my bugaboo lately, I have really been playing with my technique to achieve a decent color balance. Something aesthetically pleasing and something that bears at least a little resemblance to reality. I understand how objective these criteria are, but still… I try.
Be sure to click on the image to get the large version…
The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, taken 9Aug2013 at the Oregon Star Party, M32 and M110 are also visible, TV-76 with Canon 60D, 17x480s + 10x60s
