ABSTRACT
There are a few popular images that appear in every-one's portfolio but at the same time present technical difficulties that require special measures to make the very best image. One of these is the great Andromeda Galaxy. M31 is one of the few galaxies that exhibit a blue-shift as it hurtles towards us on a collision course. The equipment setup is remarkably simple, a medium-sized refractor fitted with a reducing field-flattener screwed to a CCD camera, filter wheel and an off-axis guider. For precise focus control, a Feather Touch focus upgrade to the telescope was fitted with a digital stepper motor and USB controller. Imaging occurred over four nights during Andromeda's early season in September. The exposures were captured with Sequence Genera-tor Pro using PHD2 to guide via a Lodestar's ST4 interface. Some of the linear processing steps (DBE) had been completed to assist with the unique image channel combinations.
