Star-Forming Regions of the Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy has a similar size and structure as our own galaxy. Its proximity, 2.5 million light-years, makes it easier to investigate than others more distant. The similarity helps us understand the colourful regions of gas and dust that we see up-close and nearby in our own galaxy.
We keep returning to photograph this target because it is beautiful, intriguing and certainly iconic. My goal this year is to combine new images with those previous to reveal the structure and locations of star-forming regions (H II regions) in the Andromeda Galaxy. Many of my photos are of star-forming regions nearby in our own galaxy. They fill my images with a brilliant pink tapestry. Seeing these regions from a distance helps us understand their overall structure. We find the telltale pink regions on the spines of the spiral arms.
This is an ensemble of 310 photos where each was a 3 minutes exposure (15 hours of astrophotography over 3 years). I combined 80 recent images with 160 images from autumn 2024, both sets using the Optolong L-Pro filter to create an interim image that captures the fine details. I then photographically merged this detailed image with a different image from 2022 that used the Optolong L-Enhance filter to reveal the locations of pink-coloured star-forming regions on the spines of the spiral arms (70 images combined in autumn 2022).
I photographed the Andromeda Galaxy from my garden in Strasbourg France on five nights over three years, 2025, 2024, 2022.
Equipment used to capture images:
Telescope: Redcat51
Computer: ASIAIR
Mount: AM5
Filter: Optolong L-Pro, Optolong L-Enhance
Camera: ASI183MC-PRO
Processing Software:
Pixinsight
Blur Exterminator
Noise Exterminator
Star Exterminator
Seti Astro Tools












