M31- Andromeda

is the great galaxy in Andromeda and was the galaxy in which stars were first resolved by the 100" Mt. Wilson scope.  Prior to the operation of the 100" scope,  some astronomers believed the 'spiral nebula' were within the local galaxy.  The announcement in 1924 that Andromeda was some 900,000 ly away (later revised after the 200" Hale scope was operational) proved the spiral nebula were extra-galactic.
Andromeda is a the closest galaxy (2 million ly) and is a naked eye object in even moderately dark sky.  Andromeda probably contains in excess of 300 billion individual stars. (Burnham)
The companion galaxies are M32 and M110.

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m31_ppf.jpg (75877 bytes) Peddler Hill, California


FS-128 @ f/6


Hypered PPF, 75 minutes


August 1998

Peddler Hill, California

Hypered PJ400, 60 Minutes

FS-128

September 1998

Photo by Sadie Rowland