The Andromeda Galaxy (also called M31) is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way Galaxy. It is approximately 2.5 million light years away and is the farthest object that can be seen with the naked eye. It's estimated to contain one trillion stars and is predicted to collide with the Milky Way Galaxy in approximately 3.75 billion years.

Technical Information       

Date:                       September, 2013

Location:                 Green Valley, Arizona

Telescope:              Takahashi FSQ-106EDX

Camera:                  SBIG STT-8300M

Filters:                     Astrodon Gen 2

Mount:                     AstroPhysics 1200

Exposure:                LRGB = 450:120:120:120 minutes, all unbinned

Software:                 Acquisition: Maxim DL 5, TheSkyX, Pinpoint, CCD Commander

                                Processing: CCDStack, PhotoShop CS6 with various plugins