Messier 31 (Andromeda Galaxy)
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- Visible to the Naked Eye from a dark sky site, it appears as a faint, smudge-like cloud.
o - It is the most distant object humans can easily see with the unaided eye.
o - It’s our closest neighbour – Space is full of billions of galaxies, but Andromeda is our closest giant neighbour.
o - Even though it is the closest, it is still so far away that it takes light 2.3 million years to travel from there to us!
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- Object Name
Messier 31
- Object Type
Galaxy
- Constellation
Andromeda
- Magnitude
+3.4
- Distance
2.3 million light-years
- Age
10 billion years old
- Annotated
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Equipment
Telescope:
Mount:
Accessory:
Sky-Watcher Esprint 80ED Triplet
Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT
ZWO ASIair Plus / PixInsight
Camera:
Guiding:
Filter:
ZWO ASI585MC Pro cooling
ZWO ASI1200MM
Askar ColourMagic 6nm
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Bortle Scale: Kelling Heath, Weybourne, North Norfolk (Bortle 4.1)
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Integration
- Date:
Sunday 23rd November 2025
o - Time:
23:15
- Moonlit:
Waxing Crescent 3.3 days old
Magnitude: -10.2
Moonlit: 10%
- Total:
180’s x 10 subs = 30 minutes
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Constellation :- Andromeda (The Chained Maiden)
Object :-
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Object :-
Other name :-
Type :–
Magnitude :–
Distance :-
Constellation :-
Right Ascension :-
Declination :-
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M31
NGC 224 / Andromeda Galaxy
Spiral Galaxy (Class: Sb)
+3.4
10 billion light years / 152,000 light years across
And (Andromeda / The Chained Maiden)
00h 42m 07s
+41° 16′ 03″
Enlarge on click the map.
(Click the map above for a large view.)
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| Abbreviation: And (Andromeda) |
| English Name: The Chained Maiden |
| Genitive: Alpheratz |
| Hemisphere: Northern Hemisphere |
| Location: Between the constellations of Cassiopeia and Pegasus. |
| Visible between latitudes: +90 and -40 degrees |
| Best season: Autumn |
| Seen in three seasons: Summer, Autumn & Winter |
| Best seen in: November (map) |
| Seen between: August and December |
| Right Ascension (RA): 01 hour |
| Declination (DEC): +40 degrees |
| Area (square degrees): 772 (19th) |
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Messer 31 – What will happen
- Andromeda and our galaxy (the Milky Way) are rushing toward each other like two giant magnets.
o - In about 4 billion years, they will smash together and combine into one mega-galaxy!
o - Andromeda (also known as M31) is currently moving toward our Milky Way at about 75 to 120 miles per second.
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Here the video simulated of M31 collision
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Below: This series of photo illustrations shows a possible
predicted merger between the Milky Way Galaxy and the neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy.
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