M31 also known as the Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy which is larger than, but otherwise much like our own Milky Way galaxy. M31 is in the constellation of Andromeda. At a distance of about 2 Million light years from Earth, it is our nearest neighboring major galaxy and is part of our local group of galaxies. Also, like our own Milky Way galaxy, M31 has two small companion galaxies, M32 and M110. (seen in the image above-left and below-middle of M31)

Image capture and processing information:

Date/Location: August 07, 2005 Lake Sonoma, Sonoma County, California
Instrument: Canon 6.1 Megapixel 300D Digital Rebel SLR through a modified Orion ED100 refractor using a Celestron .63 Focal Reducer piggybacked on a Celestron CM-1100 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector
Focal Ratio: Approximately f6.0
Guiding: Manually guided through the Celestron CM-1100
Conditions: Visually clear but hazy
Weather: 70 F, slight breeze
Exposure: 25 minutes @ ISO 1600 (5 x 5 min exposures)
Processing: Focused and captured with DSLRFocus. Images stacked and processed using RegiStax 2.1 and Microsoft Photo Editor