The great Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is larger than six times that of the full Moon and lies at about a fifteen-degree angle from being edge-on. It is easily seen with the naked eye, but breathtaking in a small telescope or even binoculars. It has a bright oval nucleus and a dust lane that becomes visible in medium-sized telescopes. And the fun news... it is on a collision course with our Milky Way!
Also seen in this photograph are M31's companion galaxies M110 (below) and M32 (above).
Taking this photo can be difficult with long focal length telescopes... it's just so big! The photo I took here with an 800mm focal length scope just barely fits a 35mm image, with almost no room for error.
GLOBULARS! M31, like our own Milky Way galaxy contains many globular clusters. The lower photograph shows many such globulars. You may click HERE to load a larger version (3meg).
M31 The Andromeda Galaxy NGC224
