Palomar Transient Factory Captures the Andromeda Galaxy

Using Palomar Observatory's 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope, the Palomar Transient Factory captured M31, the Andromeda Galaxy:


This false-color image of our glowing galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy, was created by layering 400 individual images captured by the PTF camera in February 2009. In one pointing, the PTF camera has a seven-square-degree field of view, equivalent to approximately 25 full moons. (Palomar Transient Factory/Peter Nugent, Berkeley Lab).