I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to try making an image of the Andromeda Galaxy as it was close to the horizon. My goal was to show how large this galaxy would appear if we could see it as bright as the moon. I wanted to get it setting over the Air Force radar installation on Child’s Mountain. It was close and I even got an unexpected Saguaro in the scene. I took about 30 minutes of exposure of the galaxy as it came lower but the moon came up before it was low enough. So, I had to make some adjustments. It worked out pretty good because the moon lit up Child’s Mountain. As always, right click on the image and open in a new tab to see a larger version.
The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, setting over Child’s Mountain, near Ajo, AZ. I was about 3 miles away from the radar installation, shooting with a 200mm lens. M31 is about 2.5 million light years distant, 220,000 light years in diameter and contains around one trillion stars. If M31 were as bright as the moon, this is how it would look to us. The moon is about .5 degree in diameter while M31 is about 3.2 degrees on the long axis. Amazingly, there are two other galaxies in the image, M110 ( to the right of M31) and M32 (small bright spot of the left edge of M31). Last night, I had about 2 1/2 hours of shooting before the moon came up. I opted for NGC 2775, a small galaxy I have never tried before. This is at about the limits of size I can do with the C8 and still get results that show detail. I am kind of disappointed with this, but it is still a nice image. Quite a few smaller galaxies in the background too. NGC 2775 is located the in the constellation of Cancer is around 67 million light years away.
One reply on “Galaxies High and Low”
The picture of the Andromeda Galaxy low in the sky is really nice. I like the saguaro and the AF radar in it, it looks really cool.
One reply on “Galaxies High and Low”
The picture of the Andromeda Galaxy low in the sky is really nice. I like the saguaro and the AF radar in it, it looks really cool.