Messier 31/32/110 (M 31/32/100) - Andromeda Galaxy

On this page I collect my observations of the Andromeda galaxy M 31 (NGC 224) and its satellite galaxies M 32 (NGC 221) , and M 110 (NGC 205) in the constellation Andromeda.

Introduction

The Andromeda galaxy M 31 in constellation Andromeda (but it is rather located between the constellations of Andromeda and Cassiopeia), is our neighboring galaxy and about 2.5 million light years away from us. Because it can be seen with the naked eye under good conditions (in which I have never succeeded yet...), it is the most remote sky object that we can see with the naked eye. It can be seen in binoculars and in small telescopes as a diffuse shimmering elongated oval - and I have not been able to detect any details yet, although one should actually recognize the two small galaxies M 32 (like a star) and M 110 in a small telescope. In other words, light pollution is quite high in Mühlhausen / Kraichgau. Having a good night sky in France (September 2017), I was able so see a brighter core in binoculars (Trinovid). In the years thereafter, we were always able see M 31 there quite well in telescopes and binoculars.

With the Atik Infinity camera, however, I was able to find the galaxy M 32 in January 2018 for the first time ever. In January 2020, I actually saw the galaxy M 32 for the first time, namely in my C8 telescope - a fuzzy "corner star" in a quadrangle of stars. With the eVscope, I was able to find both M 32 and the fainter M 110 in early 2020; however, both do not fit into the field of view together with M 31. With the Vaonis Vespera, however, I can see M 31 and M 32 in the same field of view, in mosaic mode even all three of them.

February 2017 (Initial Observations)

After I had searched on the balcony for Praesepe with the binoculars on the second day, I just looked into the other direction, that is, to the west, to see whether I would not "stumble" over the Andromeda Galaxy M 31. I know more or less where it is in the sky, and in February, where the Andromeda is oriented vertically, the galaxy should be particularly easy to find (with binoculars because of the large section of the sky that they show...). And so it was! Since it was still quite bright in the west, the impression that the galaxy made in the binoculars was not overwhelming, but the galaxy was recognizable without any doubts. With the GSD 680 (8" Dobsonian) on the terrace, I was unfortunately not able to find the galaxy (with the binoculars I was able to find it from there, too...). I had trouble to orient myself with the red-dot finder in this sky region, because the faint stars in the respective region were hardly or not at all visible in the finder.

On the third day, when I used the Heritage 100P on the GoTo mount, I found M 31, of course, but the galaxy was only faint; the same applied to my binoculars. Obviously, the sky in the west was still too bright... On February 18, I looked for M 31 using the GSD 680 for a second time, found it this time, and was able to see the galaxy well, but not in detail. The same applied more or less to the Heritage P130 on the GoTo mount (February, 26, new moon).

Companion Galaxies

The "obvious" companion galaxies of M 31 are M 32 and M 110. The dwarf galaxies NGC 185 and NGC 147 in constellation Cassiopeia are further companion galaxies of M 31.

M 31 (NGC 224)		M 32 (NGC 221)		M 110 (NGC 205)
Size: 3° x 1° (Stoyan) Distance: 2.5 million light years (Stoyan) Rating: ***** (Stoyan)		Size: 4' x 3' (Stoyan) Distance: 2.5 million light years (Stoyan) Rating: ** (Stoyan)		Size: 10' x 5' (Stoyan) Distance: 2.5 million light years (Stoyan) Rating: ** (Stoyan)

Map

M 31, M 32, and M 110 between Andromeda and Cassiopeia (Image Courtesy of SkySafari Astronomy, www.simulationcurriculum.com)

Overview map: Andromeda Galaxy M 31 (with M 32 and M 110) and Perseus Double Cluster NGC 884/869 (Image Courtesy of SkySafari Astronomy, www.simulationcurriculum.com)

Sketch

The sketch by Michael Vlasov (DeepSkyWatch.com) provides a rough impression of what I observed (my impression was much fainter than the sketch):

My Best Own Photos

Atik Infinity & Skymax-127 (January 14, 2018)


M 31 and M 32 (top left), from recording, processed		M 31 and M 32 (top left), from recording, processed

M 31 and M 32 (top left), from recording, processed		M 31 and M 32 (top left), from recording, processed

M 31 and M 32 (top left) labelled by astrometry.net

eVscope

M 31


M 31 - Aug 24, 2020	M 31 - Aug 24, 2020	M 31 - Sep 18, 2020

M 31 - Aug 24, 2020, processed	M 31 - Aug 24, 2020, processed	M 31 - Sep 18, 2020, processed

M 31 - Nov 14, 2020	M 31 - Nov 14, 2020	M 31 - Nov 14, 2020

M 31 - Nov 14, 2020, photo above processed	M 31 - Nov 14, 2020, photo above processed	M 31 - Nov 14, 2020, photo above processed

M 32


M 32 - Mar 18, 2020	M 32 - Aug 24, 2020	M 32 - Aug 24, 2020

M 32 - Mar 18, 2020, photo above processed	M 32 - Aug 24, 2020, photo above processed	M 32 - Aug 24, 2020, photo above processed

M 110


M 110 - Aug 24, 2020		M 110 - Aug 24, 2020, photo left processed

eVscope 2

M 31/32


M 31/32 - Oct 22, 2022		M 31/32 - Oct 22, 2022, photo left processed

M 31/32 - Nov 2, 2022		M 31/32 - Nov 2, 2022, photo left processed

Vespera

M 31/32


M 31, Aug 12, 2022 - original (71 frames = 710s)		M 32 (center), Aug 12, 2022 - original (8 frames = 80s)

M 31, Oct 5, 2022 - original (44 frames = 440s)

M 31, Oct 17, 2022 - original (221 frames = 2210s)		M 31, Oct 17, 2022 - original (221 frames = 2210s), processed

M 110

M 110, Oct 5, 2022 - original (46 frames = 460s)

M 31/M 32/M 110 (Mosaic)


M 31/32/110, Oct 27, 2022 - original (290 frames = 2900s), mosaic		M 31/32/110, Oct 27, 2022 - original (290 frames = 2900s), mosaic, processed and cropped

M 31/32/110, Jan 28, 2024 - original (341 frames = 3410s), mosaic, CLS Filter		M 31/32/110, Jan 28, 2024 - large (341 frames = 3410s), mosaic, CLS Filter, processed

My Own Observations

Observations Summer to Autumn 2016

Beginning of September (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Sep 3 Heritage 100P, Sep 6 Heritage 100P on GoTo mount, Sep 9 Heritage P130 on GoTo mount): Observed M 31 - a diffuse glow, no details...
End of September, beginning of Oktober (Sumène, Haute Loire, France: Heritage 100P, LT binoculars): Observed M 31 with the telescope at various magnifications and with binoculars, no details.

Observations February/March 2017

February 14, 2017 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: GSD 680, LT binoculars): M 31 found with binoculars only. Since the sky was rather bright in the West, the visual impression was not great, but I was able to see the galaxy without any doubts.
February 15, 2017: (ditto: Heritage 100P on GoTo mount, LT binoculars): M 31 now also found with the teescope thanks to the GoTo mount, but the galaxy was only faintly visible; the same applied to my binoculars. Obviously, the sky was still too bright in the West...
February 18, 2017 (ditto: GSD 680): M 31 found this time; I was able to see the galaxy well, but without any details.
February 26, 2017: (ditto: Heritage P130 on GoTo mount): M 31 impression with the P130 was similar to what I saw on February 18 (new moon on Feb 26).
March 16, 2017: (ditto): M 31 was very faint.

Observations September 2017

Sep 13, 2017 (Sumène, Haute Loire, France; LT binoculars): M 31 seen very nicely with binoculars; accessed via three stars in Andromeda (the closest and highest one was ny Andromeda)
Sep 18, 2017 (ditto): M 31 seen very nicely with binoculars
Sep 20, 2017 (Sumène, Haute Loire, France; LT binoculars, Heritage 100P): M 31 seen with binoculars and with Heritage 100P (eyepieces: 24, 16, 7, 4 mm, 7 and 16 worked best, 4 mm too faint); nicest with binoculars...
Sep 22, 2017 (ditto): M 31 seen with binoculars, but not as large and bright as before (half moon, milky way hard to see with the naked eye)

Observations October/November 2017

October 2017 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: LT and TS binoculars): M 31 observed with binoculars.
Nov 13, 2017 (ditto): M 31 observed with binoculars.

Observations January/February 2018

Jan 14, 2018 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Skymax-127 on GoTo mount): M 31 photographed with Atik Infinity and Skymax-127 (2 x focal reducer and extension tube) on GoTo mount. M 32 found for the first time ever!
Feb 4-5, 2018: (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: TS binoculars): M 31 seen with binoculars
Feb 12, 2018 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Explorer 150PDS on GoTo mount): M 31 seen well in the telescope.
Feb 13, 2018 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: TS binoculars): M 31 seen with binoculars

Observations September to November 2018

Sep 16, 2018 (Sumène, Haute Loire, France: TS binoculars, OM21 binoculars): M 31 small, but visible with OM21, good to see with TS
Sep 17, 2018 (Sumène, Haute Loire, France: PS 72/432, AZ Pronto Mount): M 31 seen well, but only the core (different magnifications)
Sep 19, 2018 (ditto): M 31 at lowest and highest magnification
Sep 20, 2018 (ditto): M 31 seen well again
Sep 22, 2018 (ditto): M 31 seen again
Sep 28, 2018 (Sumène, Haute Loire, France: PS 72/432, AZ Pronto Mount, TS binoculars, LT binoculars): M 31 seen again
Oct 4, 2018 (ditto): M 31 seen beautifully, the glow was larger this time
Oct 5, 2018 (Betz, Haute Loire, France: unknown telescope): M 31 seen larger than ever
Nov 1, 2018 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: TS binoculars): M 31 observed with TS binoculars.
Nov 11, 2018 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Heritage 100P, AZ Pronto Mount): M 31 observed (above cemetary).
Nov 13, 2018 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Heritage 100P, LT binoculars): M 31 observed with the telescope and LT binoculars.

Observations September/October 2019

September 17, 2019 (Sumène, France: OM21 binoculars, TS binoculars, LT binoculars): M 31 small in OM21, beautiful in the other two binoculars
September 18, 2019 (Sumène, France: StarTravel 120/600 on AZ Pronto Mount, TS binoculars, LT binoculars): M 31 (24, 10 mm) large, more or less round; M 31 also seen in LT and TS binoculars.
September 19, 2019 (Sumène, France: PS 72/432 on AZ Pronto Mount): M 31 (24, 7, 4 mm) seen very nicely.
September 20, 2019 (Sumène, France: StarTravel 120/600 on AZ Pronto Mount): M 31 (24, 7, 4 mm) very nice; seen or guessed with the naked eye.
September 30, 2019 (Sumène, France: StarTravel 120/600 on AZ Pronto Mount): M 31 observed with the 35 mm ED eyepiece; very nice, without structure, but with a bright core.
October 3, 2019 (Sumène, France: StarTravel 120/600 on AZ Pronto Mount): M 31 (35, 24, 10 mm) very nice also with 24 and 10 mm (larger than with 35 mm, of course); but apart from the bright core no structure or satellite galaxies detected...

Observations January to November 2020

January 16, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: C8 on GoTo mount): M 31 seen very well in the telescope; also seen M 32 for the first time, not just found on a photo - as a fuzzy "corner star" in a quadrangle (see photos below for an impression).
January 18, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: C8 on AZ4 mount): M 31 OK, but glow not much extended
January 20, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: C8 on GoTo mount):M 31/32 (40 mm) found by accident and lost again, when I searched for M 110... Tried again later and found it; M 110 again not found despite a lot of attempts.
Found an access to M 31 via Mirach and µ And (to the right of it, about the same distance as between these two stars, perhaps a little more...)!
February 5-6, 2020 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 31 photographed, but M 32 was not included...
March 17-18, 2020: (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 31, M 32, M 110 photographed, M 110 very faint
August 24, 2020: (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 31, M 32, M 110 photographed (M 32 also with a little of M 31)
September 7, 2020: (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 31 photographed
September 14, 2020: (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 31 photographed
September 18, 2020: (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 31 photographed
October 19, 2020: (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 31, M 32, M 110 photographed (M 32 also with a little of M 31)
November 14, 2020: (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope): M 31 photographed

Observations October to December 2021

October 7, 2021 (Erkerode: eVscope): M 31 photographed (n.o., r.f.), new image size and processing
October 9, 2021 (Erkerode: eVscope): M 31 photographed (n.o., r.f.), new image size and processing, somewhat fuzzy
December 10, 2021 (Erkerode: eVscope2): M 31 photographed (n.o., r.F.; app version 1.5)
December 21, 2021 (Erkerode: eVscope2): M 31 photographed (n.o., r.F.; app version 1.5)

Observations January 2022

January 6, 2022 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope2): M 31 photographed (app version 1.5)

Observations August to November 2022

August 12, 2022 (Erkerode: Vespera): M 31 and M 32 photographed
October 5, 2022 (Erkerode: Vespera): M 31 and M 32 photographed
October 17, 2022 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Vespera): M 31 and M 32 photographed (> 30 min)
October 22, 2022 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Vespera; eVscope2): M 31 and M 32 photographed (> 20 min)
October 27, 2022 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Vespera): M 31, M 32, and M 110 photographed as a mosaic (> 45 min)
November 2, 2022 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope2): M 31 and M 32 photographed
November 24, 2022 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope2): M 31 photographed

Observations January 2023

January 18, 2023 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope2): M 31 photographed (app version 2.2)

Observations December 2023

December 18, 2023 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: eVscope2): M 31 photographed (app version 2.5, DDT)

Observations January 2024

January 28, 2024 (Mühlhausen/Kraichgau: Vespera): M 31 photographed as a mosaic with M 32 and M 110 (nearly an hour)

References

Messier Catalogue - Messier 31: messier.seds.org/m/m031.html
Messier Catalogue - Messier 32: messier.seds.org/m/m032.html
Messier Catalogue - Messier 110: messier.seds.org/m/m110.html
Messier 31 (Wikipedia): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_31
Messier 32 (Wikipedia): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_32
Messier 110 (Wikipedia): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_110

Websites

Drawings of Messier Deep Sky Objects (Michael Vlasov, DeepSkyWatch.com): www.deepskywatch.com/messier-dso-sketches.html
Drawings of NGC, IC and Other Objects (Michael Vlasov, DeepSkyWatch.com): www.deepskywatch.com/ngc-ic-dso-sketches.html

On this Site

Appendix: My Own Photos

Atik Infinity & Skymax-127 (January 14, 2018)


M 31 and M 32 (top left), unprocessed*		M 31 and M 32 (top left), post-processed*

M 31 and M 32 (top left), from recording, processed		M 31 and M 32 (top left), from recording, processed, darker variant

M 31 and M 32 (top left) labelled by astrometry.net		M 31 and M 32 (top left), photo on top processed with Polarr
		This more "aggressive" variant was started with auto-contrast and then changed slightly in the darks to make the background darker. As a result, the core is more washed out, but the fine structures are better to recognize, if one looks at the large version. I found a similar version on astrojedi's blog, so I tried again and processed more "aggresively" to get closer to its result.
M 31 and M 32 (top left), from recording, processed, more "aggressive" variant

M 31 and M 32 (top left), from further recording, processed		M 31 and M 32 (top left), from yet another recording, processed*

		M 31 and M 32 (top left), photo on top processed with Polarr

Note that these photos show the complete image and that the large versions are in original size. This is due to the fact that the sky objects are extended - even beyond the field of view.

*) On these photos you can see M 32 as a fuzzy "corner star" in a quadrangle, similar to how I saw it in the C8 (however, reversed).

eVscope

M 31


M 31 - Feb 5, 2020	M 31 - Feb 5, 2020, processed	M 31 - Feb 6, 2020

M 31 - Mar 17, 2020, denoised, clouds	M 31 - Mar 18, 2020, wrong label	M 31 - Mar 18, 2020, ditto, processed

M 31 - Aug 24, 2020	M 31 - Aug 24, 2020	M 31 - Sep 7, 2020

M 31 - Aug 24, 2020, processed	M 31 - Aug 24, 2020, processed	M 31 - Sep 7, 2020, processed

M 31 - Sep 14, 2020	M 31 - Sep 14, 2020	M 31 - Sep 18, 2020

M 31 - Sep 14, 2020, processed	M 31 - Sep 14, 2020, processed	M 31 - Sep 18, 2020, processed

M 31 - Oct 19, 2020	M 31 - Nov 14, 2020	M 31 - Nov 14, 2020

M 31 - Oct 19, 2020, photo above processed	M 31 - Nov 14, 2020, photo above processed	M 31 - Nov 14, 2020, photo above processed

M 31 - Nov 14, 2020	M 31 - Oct 7, 2021	M 31 - Oct 9, 2021, somewhat fuzzy

M 31 - Nov 14, 2020, photo on top processed	M 31 - Oct 7, 2021, photo on top processed	M 31 - Oct 9, 2021, photo on top processed

M 32


M 32 - Mar 17, 2020, clouds	M 32 - Mar 17, 2020	M 32 - Mar 17, 2020, processed

M 32 - Mar 18, 2020	M 32 - Aug 24, 2020	M 32 - Aug 24, 2020

M 32 - Mar 18, 2020, photo above processed	M 32 - Aug 24, 2020, photo above processed	M 32 - Aug 24, 2020, photo above processed

M 32 - Oct 19, 2020	M 32 - Oct 19, 2020, photo left processed

M 110


M 110 - Mar 17, 2020	M 110 - Mar 17, 2020, processed	M 110 - Mar 18, 2020, processed

M 110 - Aug 24, 2020	M 110 - Oct 19, 2020

M 110 - Aug 24, 2020, photo above processed	M 110 - Oct 19, 2020, photo above processed

eVscope 2


M 31 - Dec 10, 2021	M 31 - Dec 10, 2021	M 31 - Dec 21, 2021

M 31 - Dec 10, 2021, photo on top processed	M 31 - Dec 10, 2021, photo on top processed	M 31 - Dec 21, 2021, photo on top processed

M 31 - Jan 6, 2022	M 31 - Jan 6, 2022, photo left processed	M 31/32 - Oct 22, 2022

M 31/32 - Nov 2, 2022	M 31/32 - Nov 2, 2022, photo left processed	M 31/32 - Oct 22, 2022, photo on top processed

M 31 - Nov 24, 2022	M 31 - Jan 18, 2023	M 31 - Dec 18, 2023, 7 min

M 31 - Nov 24, 2022, photo on top processed	M 31 - Jan 18, 2023, photo on top processed	M 31 - Jan 18, 2023, photo on top processed

Vespera

M 31/32


M 31, Aug 12, 2022 - original (71 frames = 710 seconds)		M 32 (center), Aug 12, 2022 - original (8 frames = 80 seconds)

M 31, Oct 5, 2022 - original (44 frames = 440s)

M 31, Oct 17, 2022 - original (221 frames = 2210s)		M 31, Oct 17, 2022 - original (221 frames = 2210s), processed

M 31, 22.10.2022 - Original (134 frames = 1340s)

M 110

M 110, Oct 5, 2022 - original (46 frames = 460s)

M 31/M 32/M 110 (Mosaic)


M 31/32/110, Oct 27, 2022 - original (290 frames = 2900s), mosaic		M 31/32/110, Oct 27, 2022 - original (290 frames = 2900s), mosaic, processed and cropped

M 31/32/110, Jan 28, 2024 - original (341 frames = 3410s), mosaic, CLS Filter		M 31/32/110, Jan 28, 2024 - large (341 frames = 3410s), mosaic, CLS-Filter, processed