Photographer Captures Epic Portrait of the Andromeda Galaxy
Astrophotographer Yannick Akar has stunned the amateur astrophotography community with one of the most detailed photos of the Andromeda Galaxy you will ever see.
The image was created by capturing a staggering amount of data, spanning the course of two seasons. The final image includes a whopping 146 hours of total integration.
Since posting the image on AstroBin, Yannick has received the prestigious ‘Image of the Day‘ award. The breathtaking photo includes countless nebulae regions throughout Andromeda’s spiral arms.
Not only is this one of the most detailed photos of the Andromeda Galaxy’s nebulous spiral arms but the core of the galaxy is also revealed in intense clarity. Be sure to open the full-size version of the image to enjoy every pixel.
The Andromeda Galaxy Over 2 Seasons by Yannick Akar.
Comments continue to roll in for this amazing photo, including high praise from Marcel Dreschsler, who led the discovery team of Andromeda’s OIII emission arc.
On Yannick’s website, he mentions that almost all of the deep-sky astrophotography images he takes are captured from his Bortle 7/8 backyard in Southern Germany.
Andromeda Galaxy Image Details
Yannick listed the following description of his image on AstroBin:
“All the broadband data was captured in the 2022 season, with an additional 38 hours of H-Alpha data. The 2023 season was dedicated to collecting some more H-Alpha data and all the Oxygen data.
This unique astrophotographic venture allowed me to reveal the previously unknown O-III structures in the Galactic disc and part of the O-III emission arc discovered by @Marcel Drechsler’s team in late 2022.”
Equipment Used:
Telescope: Celestron RASA 11″ V2
Camera: QHYCCD QHY268 M
Mount: iOptron CEM120, iOptron CEM60
Filters: Baader RGB, Baader H-alpha, O III (Highspeed), IDAS LPS-P2
Software: Adobe Photoshop, PixInsight, N.I.N.A.
Yannick Akar and the telescope used for the project.
This image is a great reminder of how the amatuer astrophotography community continues to reveal new and exciting details about the deep-sky objects in our night sky.
Just when you thought you knew what the Andromeda Galaxy looks like when captured through long exposure photography, images like this appear that reveal an even more incredible story.
You can browse all of Yannick’s incredible deep-sky images, see the equipment he uses, and purchase prints on his website. Well done, Yannick!
Trevor Jones
is a deep-sky astrophotographer and a valued member of the RASC. His passion is to inspire others to start their astrophotography journey on his YouTube Channel, so they can appreciate the night sky as much as he does. His images have been featured in astronomy books, and online publications including the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD).
Helpful Resources:
- The Andromeda Galaxy: Everything You Need to Know
- Image Stacking Software for Astrophotography: Which One is Best?
- Choosing an Astrophotography Telescope in 2024 (Top Choices)
I totally agree with you! This is absolutely stunning!
Spectacularly gathered and processed. That core!
when you see celestial beauty like this, photographs of the heavens let the mind wonder about our existence in the universe , other civilizations & just how vast one system can be.
Thsnk you for such awesome photos of the constellations!!!!
I hope to paint some of them!!!
Looks like Yannick faked the photo. He deleted his Astrobin account!
I doubt he faked the photo. But I am shocked and confused about deleting his AstroBin account.
Yannick didn’t fake the photo. I am a friend of his and I have seen every step of the processing and I can say for sure that it is true.
Yannick was forced to delete everything to maintain his mental health. His was brutally accused of faking the photo and even cyber attacked privately. The astrophotography community and known personalities such you Trevor should make a stance now that it is not allowed without proof to attack someone. I call all known astrophotographers to make an official statement to denounce such behavior once and for all.
That is terrible, Panagiotis. I have personally been attacked many times online and know the toll it takes on your mental health. I hope that Yannick can move past this and continue to share his passion with us.
Yannick did in fact fake the Oiii data of the photo, along with many other of his images dating back years. In this image in question, he directly copied the blue channel from Marcel’s M31 image and overlaid it onto his. It was Marcel’s unique processing that gave it away. The noise profiles EXACTLY matched between the two photos, something you cannot fake. Upon further inspect, it was apparent that Yannick had been doing this for years with Marcels data, copying and pasting. Marcel took the high road and chose not to punish him, but the community as a whole was not going to let it go. If you do not believe me, feel free to email and I can show you the proof as I was one of two people who discovered this.
I wonder how good the image would be if the James web space telescope would take the image in 146 hours.