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M31 — Second Target of a Four-Object Test Night

M31 was the second of four targets captured during a field test under darker skies. The goal of the night was not a single perfect image, but to see how the complete setup performed away from home.

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  • #andromeda
  • #field-session
  • #guiding
M31 Andromeda Galaxy photographed during a field astrophotography session under dark skies.

This night was mainly about testing the complete astrophotography setup in real field conditions.

After the first target, I moved to M31 — the Andromeda Galaxy, making it the second of four objects photographed during the session. Instead of spending the entire night on one target, I wanted to test the mount, guiding, power system and capture workflow on several different objects.

For M31 I used the Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED, Nikon D3400 and Explore Scientific iEXOS-100 PMC-Eight. Guiding was handled by the ZWO ASI120MM Mini together with the SVBONY SV165 guidescope.

The final dataset consisted of 20 × 180-second exposures at ISO 400, giving one hour of total integration. Six dark frames were used for calibration.

Considering that M31 was only one part of a larger test night, the result was already enough to reveal the bright core, extended structure and prominent dust lanes of the galaxy.

More importantly, the session showed me how the complete setup behaved outside my usual balcony environment and what still needed improvement before future field trips.