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Andromeda’s knotty arms

Imran Badr, taken from San Jose, California

Our nearest major galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), shows off its star-forming regions, glowing in hydrogen gas and tracing out its dense spiral arms. This image represents 400 hours of total exposure, including exposures in Hα, SII, and OIII filters of 215.6, 46.6, and 132.8 hours, respectively, taken on a combination of a 2.4-inch refractor and 5-inch reflector.