This Photo is of the Andromeda Galaxy , M31 or NGC 224. The photo is about 3 degrees wide on the diagonal. M31 is about 2.5 million light years fron earth-close for a galaxy.
M31 is over 100,000 light years across and may be similar in appearance to our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
This .bmp file was created by digitizing a b+w 35mm slide with a 1200 dpi scanner to create a 1400x1000x256c .tif file. The .tif file was converted to a 1024x768x256c .gif file
which was modified with Paintshop pro to enhance contrast (gamma correction of 2.2).
The file was later converted to a os2 bmp file.
This picture was taken by Rajiv Gupta using a 5" f6 astro-physics refractor on gas hypered
kodak technical pan film and a 90min exposure. Raj Gupta and I, Duncan Munro are
active members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vancouver Centre. We
dedicate this picture to OS/2 users with the hope that when you see it you will remember that photos like will not be possible unless current methods of city street lighting are changed to protect the night sky. For more information on how to preserve the night sky contact the International Dark Sky association at:
I.D.A.
3545 N. Stewart
Tucson AZ 85716
You may use these files freely but please keep the two files in the same directory so that credit will be given where it is due. thanks
