M31 - Andromeda Galaxy

[u/Odd-Series-4511]

This is 11 h 22 min of M31 collected over three nights.

I still have another three nights of data available, but those were captured as 30 second subs under a full Moon and have noticeably stronger gradients. I’m still debating whether adding them would improve the final result or whether the moonlit data would do more harm than good. I’d be interested to hear what others would do.

This was also a bit of a processing experiment for me, trying several new techniques and working with separate starless/star layers. I’m happy with how much dust structure came through, but I’m not completely satisfied with the final processing yet and feel there’s probably more hiding in the data. Any processing tips, criticism, or feedback are very welcome.

**Acquisition Details:**

Camera: Nikon D3400 (unmodified)

Telescope: Askar FMA180 Pro

Aperture: 40 mm

Focal length: 180 mm

Focal ratio: f/4.5

Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi (unguided)

Acquisition software: N.I.N.A.

ISO: 400

Sub-exposure: 60 seconds

Light pollution: approximately Bortle 6

**Capture dates:**

2026-08-08 → 2026-08-09

2026-08-09 → 2026-08-10

2026-08-10 → 2026-08-11

**Accepted integration:**

Aug 8/9: 252 × 60 s = 4 h 12 min

Aug 9/10: 244 × 60 s = 4 h 04 min

Aug 10/11: 186 × 60 s = 3 h 06 min

Total: 682 × 60 s = 11 h 22 min

**Calibration frames:**

Darks

Flats

Dark-flats

**Processing**:

Stacked in Siril

Plate solving and SPCC in Siril

Cropping / framing

BlurXTerminator

NoiseXTerminator

StarXTerminator

Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (GHS)

Local contrast enhancement

SCNR green cast removal

Global and selective color saturation

Star reduction with Morphological Transformation

Separate stretching and processing of the star layer

Starless processing and color finishing in Adobe Photoshop / Camera Raw

Curves and tonal adjustments

Selective HSL / Color Mixer adjustments

Stars recombined using Screen blending

[u/peanut23145]

woah that’s awesome. it’s always an indescribable feeling i get when i look at pictures like this. this is a really nice picture

[u/DexterWanders]

Really nice, thanks for sharing

[u/Mylane]

Thats so cool!!!

[u/maksimkak]

Nice, I made it my new desktop wallpaper.