Need help with identifying this object!

[Sundar Raghavachari]

Dear HAL Group Experts,

I am writing to request your confirmation regarding an object in the attached picture.

The image was taken using the Pixel 10 Pro phone in Astro mode. The object in question, which I have circled with a marker, is visible in the picture. I am reasonably sure this object is the Andromeda galaxy, but I would greatly appreciate confirmation from your team of experts.

Any help you can provide with this identification will be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

'Clear skies'

Best regards,

Sundar.

[j...@tomney.com]

Yep, that is M31 there 😊

 

Jim

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[Jose Urias]

M31

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/howardastro/044e01dc5625%2456227630%2402676290%24%40tomney.com.

[Gene Handler]

If you haven’t already, compare your photo to a star map. I can see the Andromeda constellation on the left. Once you’re able to match the two up you’ll be able to convince yourself that that is M31 and maybe you can pick out some other objects. 

G.Handler

On Nov 15, 2025, at 1:11 AM, Sundar Raghavachari <sundar.ra...@gmail.com> wrote:



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<PXL_20251114_Andromeda_copy.JPG>

<PXL_20251024_Andromeda_copy1.jpg>

[James Kaiser]

Sundar - I am pretty certain you are right. To confirm my judgment from
inspection of your photo, I used Stellarium (which is installed on my
computer, but is available online and as an app) to get a similar
starfield to yours and rotate it to match.

Waiting to hear from others,

- Jim

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[Sundar Raghavachari]

Thanks Gene for your response. There are just too many points of light in this picture for me to compare this with any star map unless I come across a similar picture! The abundance of stars in this is very confusing for me to identify any constellation or specific galaxy (except the obvious ones like Pleiades or Orion etc, which are not in this picture). 

Thanks ,

Sundar.

[Stephen Gauss]

You have a hypothesis of M31 as a reference point. If you expand your image it is clear that is what is in the center. There is no sense of scale or time of night. You should have then taken another picture at the same orientation lower down to show the landscape and give an orientation. The bright star Mirach (b And) is not far and Alpheratz (a And) is also prominent in your image. However, Cassiopeia, which should be obvious is not. These cameras don't have the same wavelength sensitivity as astronomical cameras and don't do good job of distinguishing the stars. I have the same problem with my ASI662 using the fisheye lens that came with it.

However, taking a snapshot of the Stellarium star chart around M31, importing it to Photoshop Elements and inverting it allows you to superimpose it on your image. By stretching and rotating, you can quickly line up the stars.

Stephen Gauss

Thanks Gene for your response. There are just too many points of light in this picture for me to compare this with any star map unless I come across a similar picture! The abundance of stars in this is very confusing for me to identify any constellation or specific galaxy (except the obvious ones like Pleiades or Orion etc, which are not in this picture).Â

Thanks ,
Sundar.

On Sat, Nov 15, 2025 at 9:12 AM Gene Handler <ghan...@verizon.net> wrote:

If you haven’t already, compare your photo to a star map. I can see the Andromeda constellation on the left. Once you’re able to match the two up you’ll be able to convince yourself that that is M31 and maybe you can pick out some other objects.Â

G.Handler

On Nov 15, 2025, at 1:11 AM, Sundar Raghavachari < sundar.ra...@gmail.com> wrote:



Dear HAL Group Experts,

I am writing to request your confirmation regarding an object in the attached picture.

The image was taken using the Pixel 10 Pro phone in Astro mode. The object in question, which I have circled with a marker, is visible in the picture. I am reasonably sure this object is the Andromeda galaxy, but I would greatly appreciate confirmation from your team of experts.

Any help you can provide with this identification will be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

'Clear skies'

Best regards,

Sundar.

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<PXL_20251114_Andromeda_copy.JPG>

<PXL_20251024_Andromeda_copy1.jpg>

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[Sundar Raghavachari]

Thanks Jim for your response. Yes, many have confirmed it to be M31. Infact Gene mentioned he could also spot Triangulam galaxy in the picture I sent!

Thanks ,

Sundar Raghavachari.

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[Stephen Gauss]

Correct.

Stephen Gauss

- Jim

> Dear HAL Group Experts,

>

> attached picture.

>

>

>

>

> 'Clear skies'

>

> Best regards,

> Sundar.

>

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> < mailto:howardastro...@googlegroups.com>.

> howardastro/

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[James Vaughan]

I'm late to the game, but I thought I might as well add my two pennies that this was immediately recognizable as M31. Looks like it was a nice night!

The biggest reason I wanted to respond though was to mention nova.astrometry.net

You can go there and click 'upload' and submit an image for plate solving and annotation. It didn't resolve the image you shared, maybe the circle threw it off? But it typically does very well and is a pretty neat tool. Here is an album with some results with very different fields of view and pixel scales so you can have an idea of what to expect.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nf4CtcE7n5L8shD39

In the first image I added the purple ones.

Then one is a little narrower than your fov but in the same area.

The final is a wider fov and screenshot. One of its coolest features to me is determining coordinates of the center of the image, and the rotation (relative to north). I use that to align my camera for shooting the same area after the camera may have been rotated for any reason.

Sorry to ramble, I've gotten a lot out of this tool and was surprised it wasn't mentioned.

Clear skies,

James Vaughan (BruthaJamez on the discord)

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/howardastro/6919bd85.050a0220.157b6a.d52bSMTPIN_ADDED_BROKEN%40gmr-mx.google.com.

[Sundar Raghavachari]

Hello James Vaughan:

Thanks for taking time to respond to my email and for mentioning the website that can plate resolve my image. I am trying it right now with the image I took yesterday at Alpha Ridge park during one of our Impromptu's called by Jose (thanks Jose!). Looks like I have to be signed in to avail of the full features, so will do that too. Thanks again.

Thanks ,

Sundar Raghavachari.