M31 The Andromeda Galaxy. (M32 and M110 are the other small galaxies)
This photo took nearly 3 months to "expose". It is a 9 panel mosaic. Each panel consists of 300+ individual exposures and 6+ hours of exposure time. It took about a month of processing using various astronomical imaging software packages with a final assembly in Photoshop. I have a 44" x 30" enlargement hanging on my living room wall.
We took this photo from the backyard of my friend's house. We built an observatory in his backyard to do just this sort of thing.
We did some groundbreaking techniques to get this level of detail in the core of the galaxy. 3 telescopes of varying sizes were used.
The core of the galaxy was featured in the 2004 Sky & Telescope Calendar. It was the photo for September. It is the center panel of the 9 panel mosaic.
More info on M31: Messier Object 31
Short of Hubble's images and a select few other amateurs who tried to duplicate our effort, you will be hard pressed to find a more detailed image of M31.
Looking forward to the day when I once again have the time to do such things.
Right now I need to go mix some saltwater. :sfish:
