More Andromeda Galaxy

[crimbfighter]

Andromeda Galaxy! The last several nights were clear, so I added a lot of imaging time to the Andromeda Galaxy. This is a two panel mosaic, high resolution image that combines a total of 23hrs 21min of exposure time. The colors and detail really come through with longer exposure times on this galaxy.

The Andromeda Galaxy is our closest galactic neighbor, and is bright enough to be visible to the naked eye from dark skies.

*I edited the post to remove information about the red shift. Many people smarter than I have pointed out my error. The color difference, while it matches, is coincidental to the red shift, which would only be visible to scientific instruments. Classic case of having just enough informarion to draw the wrong conclusion*

Full res version visible here:
Full res version on flickr

 

[Woolsocks]

That's pretty cool. Informative read. But err what's that mosiac like thing in the middle bottom?

 

[Thiophilos]

That's a really amazing image. There must be people there looking back at us.

I was interested in your statement that the rotation of the galaxy produces a visible blue shift on one side and a red shift on the other. It seemed surprising to me that the velocity difference was great enough to show red/blue shifts. And checking into this a bit online, I see that this might not be right.

A blue color indicates young hot stars. Blue stars can be moving toward us or away from us and still be blue. Whether it is blue-shifted is not determined from the color but from a shift in the spectral lines. You need a spectrometer to see that.

The velocities of the different parts of Andromeda are low, astronomically speaking. Accordingly, the blue shift in Andromeda was cited to be less than a nanometer. That is miniscule compared to the wavelength of blue light (~450 nm) and is impossible to discern by eye.

The blue in your image indicates lots of big young hot stars in that region, and has nothing to do with its rotation or blue shift.

I still think it is a neat image.

 

[crimbfighter]

That's a really amazing image. There must be people there looking back at us.

I was interested in your statement that the rotation of the galaxy produces a visible blue shift on one side and a red shift on the other. It seemed surprising to me that the velocity difference was great enough to show red/blue shifts. And checking into this a bit online, I see that this might not be right.

A blue color indicates young hot stars. Blue stars can be moving toward us or away from us and still be blue. Whether it is blue-shifted is not determined from the color but from a shift in the spectral lines. You need a spectrometer to see that.

The velocities of the different parts of Andromeda are low, astronomically speaking. Accordingly, the blue shift in Andromeda was cited to be less than a nanometer. That is miniscule compared to the wavelength of blue light (~450 nm) and is impossible to discern by eye.

The blue in your image indicates lots of big young hot stars in that region, and has nothing to do with its rotation or blue shift.

I still think it is a neat image.

Yup, you're spot on. Even before you replied I've had several people who are smarter than I correct my incorrect observation. I've corrected the post.

 

[Thiophilos]

Yup, you're spot on. Even before you replied I've had several people who are smarter than I correct my incorrect observation. I've corrected the post.

Thanks for responding. Impressive photo.

 

[crimbfighter]

Thanks for responding. Impressive photo.

Thanks. It was a classic case of me having researched enough to have confirmed my own bias and ran with it... but, I'm not above admitting when I'm wrong!

 

[crimbfighter]

Thanks for responding. Impressive photo.

I also appreciate that you took the time to analyze what I posted and respond with a thoughtful and complete argument to totally and completely prove me wrong, haha! Despite liking to be right, I value being correct more, so thank you for taking the time to go through it as you did.

 

[Jeff15]

Excellent photography as usual ....

 

[Thiophilos]

I also appreciate that you took the time to analyze what I posted and respond with a thoughtful and complete argument to totally and completely prove me wrong, haha! Despite liking to be right, I value being correct more, so thank you for taking the time to go through it as you did.

We will make a good team!

 

[Thiophilos]

I'm really awestruck by Andromeda and astronomy. Andromeda is just enormous, with maybe a trillion stars. That is more stars than in our own galaxy. And there are millions of galaxies like Andromeda in the observable universe. Just incredible.

Your photo shows two satellite galaxies to Andromeda. If you look carefully, you can see a wispy bit extending from one of them (the one on the upper left) to the core of Andromeda. That is a trail of stars, being stolen from the satellite by Andromeda's gravity.

Given what we know about planets around stars (at least one per star on average in our stellar neighborhood), there could well be living beings on many of the stars in that trail. Maybe there are civilizations there with telescopes that know about the ride they are on.

In a way we are on a similar trip, because the Milky Way and Andromeda are being drawn towards each other. We will connect in a few billion years.

 

[crimbfighter]

That's pretty cool. Informative read. But err what's that mosiac like thing in the middle bottom?

I hadn't noticed that for some reason until you pointed it out. It's an artifact from the blending process. I'll have to manually remove it. There are often color casts and gradients in the background due to light pollution. If not perfectly dealt with, the variations will be visible, as they are here.

 

[crimbfighter]

I'm really awestruck by Andromeda and astronomy. Andromeda is just enormous, with maybe a trillion stars. That is more stars than in our own galaxy. And there are millions of galaxies like Andromeda in the observable universe. Just incredible.

Your photo shows two satellite galaxies to Andromeda. If you look carefully, you can see a wispy bit extending from one of them (the one on the upper left) to the core of Andromeda. That is a trail of stars, being stolen from the satellite by Andromeda's gravity.

Given what we know about planets around stars (at least one per star on average in our stellar neighborhood), there could well be living beings on many of the stars in that trail. Maybe there are civilizations there with telescopes that know about the ride they are on.

In a way we are on a similar trip, because the Milky Way and Andromeda are being drawn towards each other. We will connect in a few billion years.

The more I have dived into astronomy, the more our place in the universe has become clear. I only wish I'd be around long enough to say high to a galactic neighbor one day.

Another cool think I liked about M110 was I seem to have actually captured some structure within it. Not much, but a little. I also noticed the other satellite galaxy, M32, appears to have its outer diffuse region spiraling off. I wondered if that was also an indication it was being consumed by Andromeda.

 

[Woolsocks]

I hadn't noticed that for some reason until you pointed it out. It's an artifact from the blending process. I'll have to manually remove it. There are often color casts and gradients in the background due to light pollution. If not perfectly dealt with, the variations will be visible, as they are here.

Have you played the pc game Microsoft flight simulator 2020? The starfield at night is just a jpg of stars. There's no atmospheric twinkling. That's interesting. Where do you suppose the light pollution came from?

 

[jeffashman]

Another absolutely fantastic image! And I can imagine there are stars with inhabited planets in that galaxy, much like I believe there are other stars in our own galaxy that have inhabited planets. I'm petty sure we've been visited before, but they lock their doors as they fly by this rough neighborhood...

 

[crimbfighter]

Have you played the pc game Microsoft flight simulator 2020? The starfield at night is just a jpg of stars. There's no atmospheric twinkling. That's interesting. Where do you suppose the light pollution came from?

It comes from cities. Street lights, businesses, etc. all put off light that goes up into the atmosphere. It's easiest to see from a distance over cities in the form of the light dome that projects outward. There can also be naturally occurring light pollution due to things like ionized gasses in the atmosphere. Similar to the Auroras.