The Andromeda Galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) imaged from Starfield Observatory in Kentucky

In July 2024 I took the telescope out to the astronomy club's dark sky site in Kentucky. It was new moon and cloudless. I intended to do a mosaic of the North American and Pelican nebula, but I couldn't resist pointing the scope at Andromeda when it rose above the trees around 1am. Andromeda is one of the targets I've wanted to image most since I upgraded to my new camera. 

The image above is about 90 minutes of data with minimal processing. I'm going to wait until later in the year when Andromeda is higher in the sky before imaging again, but I'm extremely pleased with how this turned out, especially since dew and time were real factors. 

This was also taken with only a UV/IR cut filter. With no serious light pollution there was no need for narrowband (although I did take some Ha/OIII that I'll experiment with later). Having clear skies and great conditions is like doing astrophotography in "easy mode". The only hitch I encountered was forgetting to take my callibration frames before I packed everything up.

Related: I was able to see the Milky Way for the first time in years. Next time I head to this site I'm going to take my DSLR camera and try to get some wide shots.