The Andromeda Galaxy is thought to appear very similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy and is also our closest neighboring galaxy at 2.2 million light years.  It can be seen with the naked eye as a fuzzy patch from moderately dark skies.  Satellite galaxies M32 & M110 are visible in the above photo  as well.

IMAGE DETAILS:

• Date & Location:  December 17, 2009 (evening) - Bernville, PA

• Weather:  Light winds, 27F.

• Sky Conditions:  Scattered Cirrus clouds with average transparency. 

• Optics:  TeleVue NP101is Refractor with 0.8x TeleVue Reducer = 432mm @ f4.3

• Filter:  Astronomic  EOS clip-in CLS-CCD (Light Pollution Suppression)

• Mount:  Losmandy G-11 equatorial with Gemini V4

• Guiding:  Orion Solitaire w/TeleVue TV60is

• Camera:  Canon T1i (500D) Hap Griffin Modified - Baader UV/IR

• Exposure:  48 min (6 x 8 min) @ ISO 800 RAW

• Calibration Frames:  No dark frame subtraction (27F)

• Processing:  Photoshop CS4, Noise Ninja, GradientXTerminator, NIK 

• Comments:  Cirrus covered a good part of the sky resulting in loss of signal and and enhanced light pollution.  Compare  with image captured 10/19/09 with smaller aperture scope and 10 minutes less exposure time.