This is the great galaxy in the constellation Andromeda (Messier 31, or M31), with satellite galaxies M32 and M110. From where I can see the sky at my house, this is an autumnal event; it rolled into view last week so here it is. This is the result of 4.5 hours of imaging on one of the few clear nights this summer.

This galaxy, 2.5 million light years away, is wheeling in our general direction at around 68 miles per second. It is thought that our home galaxy, the Milky Way, looks much like this in size and shape, and the two might collide sometime. It will be a long sometime away and a collision is far from certain.

Every session with the telescope teaches me something new. This time I learned that with objects as big as this I should rotate my camera to frame it better.