Messier 32. NGC 221

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Messier 32 (NGC 221), also known as Le Gentil (named after its discoverer, but a rarely used nickname for this galaxy), is a dwarf elliptical galaxy, satellite of our neighbor M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. It has  a size of about 6500×5000 light years and the density of the stars increases dramatically close to the center. This makes M32 a member of the infrequent class “Compact Ellipticals”. In 1998, images from the Hubble Telescope resolved numerous blue stars near the center of M32. These are not like the classical O or B stars, but old stars that ran out of hydrogen and are burning helium, emitting in the UV part of the spectrum.

 

Additional Information

Object

Name(s): Messier 32. M32. NGC 221

Type: Compact Elliptical Galaxy

RA:  00h 42m 42s

Dec: +40º 41’ 50”

Constellation: Andromeda

Size (arcmin): 8.5×6.5 arcmin

Magnitude: +8.1

Distance: 2.5 Mly

Image

Date: 2021-09-08

Location: Curiosity2 Observatory, New Mexico Skies, Mayhill, NM, USA

Size (arcmin): 31×30 arcmin

Telescope: 24” (61 cm) f/6.5 Reflector

Camera: FLI PL16803 (4096x4096pix)

Guiding: Astrodon MonsterMOAG off-axis guider

Total exposure: 3 hours (L: 2 h; RGB: 1h)

Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CC 2022

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