Messier 31 - Andromeda Galaxy

First nigth out ever!! As a first nighter I think it came out beautifully :-) Of course, Andromeda knows how to smile when you take a picture of her. It was such a remarkable night. I arrived late and blinded all the poor people who had been there for at least 2-3 hours already getting dark adated, I didn't even bring a red flashlight, and my equipment was as simple as it gets: a lightweight mount, a small 80mm OTA, a camera and a small battery to power up the mount. That's it! No laptop, no dew haters, no autofocusers, no guiding scope or guiding camera, no chair, table or any accessories other than the very basic stuff.

And yet, I had a whole lot of fun! :-)

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DATE December 3rd, 2007, 9:30pm to 10pm PST PHOTO Exposure: 3 x 3 minutes Focal: 600mm, f/7.5

EQUIPMENT Imaging Scope: Orion 80mm ED Apo Camera:Canon 400D Stock (unmodified) Guide camera: None Guide scope: None Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G

SITE & CONDITIONS Dinosair Point, Gilroy, CA Seeing:Good Transparency: Excellent SOFTWARE Stacking: None Processing: Photoshop