Andromeda galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to Milky Way Galaxy. Even though it is 2.5 million light years away, it is predicted that they will eventually merge in about 5 billion years from now. Some theory suggests that the merger has already begun. As they get closer and closer, one day it will be bright enough to be seen by the naked eye. Actually, if you go to a dark sky place with no light pollution you can still see it.

This was shot from a mountain top in North Carolina. I prefer shooting from the mountain top because there’s less distraction from all the unnecessary lights. I am happy how this turned out even with just 30 mins exposure time.

Nikon D810, Nikkor 500mm, Skywatcher star adventurer mount.

Exposure time 30 mins. ISO 6400 at f/5.6. Images were pre-processed and stacked using calibration frames (25 Bias and 25 Darks) in PixInsight. Final corrections such as color grading and color correction were done in photoshop.