#M31 Andromeda Galaxy

[kestarren]

M31 Andromeda Galaxy, 3 Dec '23. Photo by Nicola Bugin. 'A Journey Through Ionized Hydrogen' "In this image a filter was used to highlight the ionized hydrogen (red)" an H-alpha (Hα) filter.

[all-roads-are-now-bent]

M31//Andromeda. Taken and processed by me.

[quiltofstars]

The Andromeda Galaxy, M31 // Buyman3375

With M32 making an appearance at the upper left!

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Mount Wilson Observatory: Andromeda Galaxy (c. 1950)

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Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Messier 31, M31 or NGC 224

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Astronomy Photographers of the Year 2023

The photo above was shot by Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner, and Yann Sainty, Capturing a moment of breathtaking beauty, earning them the title of Astronomy Photographers of the Year 2023 for their mesmerizing image, "Andromeda, Unexpected."

Source: Royal Museums Greenwich

Andromeda, also known as Messier 31 or M31, is a spiral galaxy located approximately 2.537 million light-years away from Earth. It is the nearest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way and is a prominent member of the Local Group, a collection of galaxies that includes our own and several dozen others. The history of Andromeda is as rich and complex as its luminous core, stretching back billions of years to the dawn of the universe itself.

The story of Andromeda begins with the birth of the cosmos in the Big Bang, a cataclysmic event that set in motion the expansion of space and time. Over billions of years, gravity drew together vast clouds of gas and dust, causing them to collapse and form stars. Among these stars were a family of galaxies.

Andromeda, like all galaxies, is a collection of billions of stars bound together by gravity. Its spiral arms, decorated with bright knots of star formation, wind around older, redder stars. At its core lies a supermassive black hole, a cosmic behemoth with a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape its grasp.

Andromeda's beauty is more than skin deep. It is a treasure trove of scientific knowledge, offering insights into the workings of the universe on scales both vast and small. Astronomers study its structure and dynamics to better understand how galaxies form and evolve over time. By measuring the motion of stars within Andromeda, they can infer the presence of dark matter, a mysterious substance that pervades the cosmos and binds galaxies together.

Astronomers believe that Andromeda is on a collision course with our own Milky Way, destined to merge in a cosmic tango that will reshape both galaxies in the distant future. This collision, which is expected to occur billions of years from now, will likely trigger a frenzy of star formation and reshape the landscape of both galaxies.

Drechsler, Strottner, and Sainty captured their award-winning image, "Andromeda, Unexpected." The photograph, taken with a combination of advanced telescopes and imaging techniques, reveals Andromeda in all its glory, its swirling arms and glowing core illuminated by the light of billions of stars. But what makes the image truly remarkable is the unexpected presence of a faint, wispy trail of gas extending from the galaxy's disk. A galaxy's disk refers to the flat, rotating component of a galaxy that typically contains most of its stars, gas, and dust.

This trail, known as a tidal stream, is remains of Andromeda's past. It is the result of gravitational interactions with smaller, satellite galaxies that have ventured too close to Andromeda and been torn apart by its immense gravity. These interactions have left their mark on Andromeda's structure, sculpting its shape and leaving behind a trail of stars and gas that serves as a silent testament to the galaxy's history.

Sources: Wikipedia, NASA Science, EarthSky, Britannica

Drechsler, Strottner, and Sainty's photograph captures not only the beauty of Andromeda but also the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the cosmos. It reminds us that galaxies are not static, unchanging objects but living entities that evolve and interact with their surroundings over billions of years.

[vainaspaver]

M31-Andromeda by AChucksEyeView

[themostlyharmlessfandragon]

Day 31: galaxy! Well I fell off the drawing-a-day wagon for about… *checks calendar* two weeks?? Sorry about that! I wanted to get in at least one more before it ended so here’s the final prompt. Thanks @artchallengegame! I really enjoyed this drawing challenge

Apparently the calendar I picked has like way too many days lol

[marcoandriola]

Galassia di Andromeda - M31 • Potevo accontentarmi del risultato della quarta immagine, ma non mi bastava. Dunque ho elaborato la terza immagine, ma questa sera ancora sentivo che non andava bene, nonostante le condizioni con cui ho acquisito i 390 fotogrammi non fossero assolutamente ideali per lo scopo. Stasera sono riuscito a tirare fuori questo risultato sempre da quegli stessi file, ma utilizzando software diversi. Inutile dire quanto emozionante sia per me l'astrofotografia, scoprire cosa c'è nell'universo, nello spazio profondo. Poter vedere quello che gli occhi non vedono e condividerlo per poter mostrare a chiunque tale meraviglia. • Sony A9 + Sony 200-600 Tempo di posa: 1.6 secondi Diaframma: F/5.6 Lunghezza focale: 298mm ISO: 3200 Nessun filtro per l'inquinamento luminoso Scatti eseguiti in pieno centro urbano • #andromeda #andromedagalaxy #m31 #deepspace #astrofotografia #astrophotography #galaxy #galassia #spazio #universo (presso Carovigno) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjOqtWdq-vU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[pictureflection]

M31 — Andromeda galaxy by Tristan Petroskey

Camera by Tristan Petroskey.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2...

"Everyone is probably sick of seeing this galaxy lol. I have 10 hours of exposure time on it now, making it the highest amount of data I've ever collected on an object since I started astrophotography at the beginning of the year (still nothing compared to the 40+ hours some astrophotographers get)."

Music by Andrey Klimkovsky @AndreyKlimkovsky

Track: «Distant galaxy»    • Альбом «Андромеда» • Проект «Звёздное...  

Bandcamp: https://klimkovsky.bandcamp.com/track...

[shaythempronouns]

M31 (the Andromeda galaxy) in visible light, with its star-forming regions (emission nebulae rich in hydrogen) highlighted in red.

Composite of 1 hour of full-spectrum luminance data (60x60") and 1 hour of 7nm hydrogen-alpha data (12x300"). Would benefit massively from additional Ha data.

Processed in SiriL, Starnet, and GIMP.

[kestarren]

Andromeda Galaxy M31, & a nebula, the blue "M31 [OIII] emission arc", discovered by a team of amateur astronomers in August 2022. "Its origins are unknown, and are an active topic of research." ~ Bray Falls, in the introductory info at the instagram link. Video (in English - available in: english · français · deutsch ):

[all-roads-are-now-bent]

Starless Andromeda. Part of my image processing workflow involves removing the stars on pictures I take so I can focus on bringing out the details on whatever object it is that I'm shooting. The stars are saved as a "star mask" that I can then reapply once I'm finished.

[quiltofstars]

The core of the Andromeda Galaxy, M31 // Yutian Huang

[thomlocke73]

andromeda m31, classic autum time sky.. great equinox-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

[before-life]

Andromeda Galaxy M31 by tallnutt