The Andromeda Group of Galaxies

 

The Andromeda Group of Galaxies Messier 31, Messier 32 and M110. Composite of two stacks of data to accommodate the the wide dynamic range. The data was re-processed by Kurt Thrust using Starnet GUI and Affinity Photo2. The original data was captured by the Jodrell Plank Observatory's mini rig.

Slightly different colour rendering

" The original data for this was captured in autumn 2016 using a Altair 66mm doublet refractor mounted on a Star  Adventurer EQ mount. When Pip Stakkert processed this data back in 2016, the outer spiral ring was not visible. The new freeware Starnet GUI in combination with Affinity Photo 2 has enabled fainter details to be displayed. We were astonished to see how well this little telescope performed capturing the outer spiral ring wrapping around M31 anticlockwise from right to left.  A plume of stars and gas can also be seen spiralling away from the smaller elliptical galaxy M110  bottom right. There is plenty of drama in this image as the galaxies gravitationally interact. 

To give some idea of scale; Messier 31- the large spiral Andromeda Galaxy is  approximately 150,000 light years (1.35 million trillion kilometres) across and contains stars with a mass equivalent of 1 trillion Suns. At the centre, somewhere in the bright core is an intermediate mass black hole with a mass equal to 100,000 Suns. Messier 32 can be seen in the image as a small blurry disc just above and to the left of the bright Andromeda core. It is an early type dwarf elliptical galaxy comprised of mainly old yellow and red stars. Messier 110 is also a dwarf elliptical galaxy and both M32 and M110 are gravitationally bound to Messier 31 as satellite galaxies. The trio of galaxies is located some 2.5 million light years away. M31 can be seen with the naked eye from a dark site and all three can be viewed with a good pair of binoculars" - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Finder chart for M31 Credit Stellarium and NASA