Andromeda...and Not The Starship :-)

[Lomitus]

Howdy Folks!
Just a quicky question here...has anybody been able to see M31/M32 yet (the Andromeda galaxy...not sure which M it is and too tired to look it up right now)? It's a mag 3.5 according to "The Sky", so I -should- be able to see it pretty well with a 5" Mak. I know "about" where it should be, but I just spent the last hour looking and nadda. I know it will be much easier to find as the next month or two wears on, but I'm kind of anxious to see it...can anyone give me any suggestions on finding it? "Road directions from Cassiopeia" would be helpful!

Thanks!
Bright Blessings & Gentle Breezes,
Jim

[Fraser]

You can actually see it with the unaided eye in dark skies. It's a hazy patch of sky.

The way I always find it is to locate Cassiopia - that's the W. Below and to the right is a large constellation with three bright stars in a line; sort of like a really flat V. That's Andromeda (the constellation). The middle star has one just above it, and then a dimmer star a little above that and to the right. Andromeda (the galaxy) is just beside it.

[antoniseb]

I found it first by using a star map.

When I'm out on a summer night looking for it now, I look for the great square of Pegasus, and look to the left for the stars of Andromeda [the constellation]. From the first bright star in Andromeda, I start looking up toward Cassiopia, until I see the galaxy forming sort of a rhombus with three fifth or sixth magnitude stars. The galaxy is magnitude 3.5, but is about as hard to see as a magnitude five star, since it is distributed.

Your 5" Mak should show a fuzzy ellipse, but not much structure.

[Lomitus]

Thanks Guys!
I'm sure once Pegasus is up a little more I should be able to see it without a problem. Right now it's off in the NE horizon and I do have quite a bit of light pollution in that area...which I'm sure is the biggest problem I'm having with it (there's a pretty nasty glow off the lake shore from the docks, piers and city hall). I've been using the star chart in this months S&T, but I think I will probably have to take the laptop out there instead where I'll have a better reference to the surrounding stars.

Dumb question...looking at my program, "The Sky", Andromeda (the constillation) appears to be part of Pegasus...this is kind of like The Big Dipper is part of Ursa Major right? Again with the light pollution in that part of the sky right now, I'm not really seeing the constillation at all with the naked eye...I can see the stars thru the scope, but with naked eye, pretty much everything below Cassiopiea is washed out, so I don't really have a visual reference yet (again I know this will change over the next few months).

I do know that I'm not going to get too much structure or detail with my "Lil' Mak", but as long as I can see something, at least I know it's there and will know how to find it next time I get to use a larger scope (LOL). We've been watchin the ring nebula in Lyra for the last week or so and yea, there's not much to really look at per say, but it's still really cool that I can actually find it and know that it's a ring. Right now I'm just happy being able to find things and actually able to see it (and maybe do some photos...the Mak should be big enough for that)...I'll worry about detail and structure later :-)

Thanks again, I'll find it eventually...like I said, just a little anxious :-)
Bright Blessings,
Jim

[antoniseb]

Try pre-dawn viewing for now. It should be much higher in the sky at 2 or 3 AM.

[Lomitus]

hehehe...yea, I know...just haven't been able to stay up that late this week. Tried last night, but my eyes started forcing themselves closed about 1:00 and it just wasn't high enough yet. We're heading down to Southern Ohio next week for a camping trip to a dark sky site, so if nothing else I should get to see it then (I plan to be up all night for at least one or two nights of viewing if mother nature cooperates).

BB's,
Jim

[DippyHippy]

Interesting Astronomical Factoid #368 - the Andromeda Galaxy is the furthest object you can see with the naked eye :)

[Dave Mitsky]

Originally posted by DippyHippy@Jul 9 2004, 11:44 PM
Interesting Astronomical Factoid #368 - the Andromeda Galaxy is the furthest object you can see with the naked eye :)
Actually M81 is farther and has been seen without optical aid by a number of sharp-eyed individuals from very dark sites.

Oops, sorry to commit the sin of making a correction. Now I'll doubtless be accused of having an "attitude" once again.

Dave Mitsky

[Tinaa]

I like attitude in my astronomers!

[Lomitus]

Since this thread still seems to be going, just wanted to say thanks again to everyone for telling me "where" it is. :) I did finally get to see it down in the Wayne National Forest...the first night I found it with binoculars (twas on the horizon and wasn't really naked eye visable yet). With this I was able to find it with the scope and got a pretty nice view! The first night I tried to find it with the scope I got plagued with the mighty dew monster (didn't have a dew shield) so the second night I had a clear night (the last night of our trip....what a fantastic sky!) I rigged a dew shield out of empty two litter bottles and we got some really nice views of Andromeda as well as a couple of globulars, opens and nebulas in Sagittarius (hehehe...had a star chart next to me so I got the spelling right! LOL!). With the scope we were able to make out the core quite nicely as well as a fair amount of the spiral...all and all very nice indeed.

Now that Andromeda is getting higher in the night sky, I'm -hoping- that I will be able to see it from the upstairs back porch....gonna have to wait and see on that (mucho bad light pollution). Now that I know where to look and have seen it a couple of times it should be easier though...not sure I would have found it this soon from the backyard.

Anyways, thanks again for the info (espcially to Fraser!)...I'm quite grateful! And Dave...next time I'm out someplace dark, I will try and see M81 naked eye (near Ursa Major correct?)...no attitude accused my friend :D

Bright Blessings and many thanks!
Jim

[Alida Ann]

Hello everyone. It's great to be here.

lomitus1: The trick that I always use to find the Andromeda Galaxy is to draw a diagonal line down through the right side of Casseopia and stop at the junction directly above the middle star in the line of 3 stars making up Andromeda. The galaxy is just a little to the left from this point.

A note: The constellations of Andromeda and Pegasus share the righthand star in this line of 3.

Thank you to Dave Mitsky. This little fact is something I didn't know. Was this eagle-eyed person also able to see M82? Maybe the ancients used this as an eye test too, like Mizar and Alcor. If you could see these, then you had really good eyesight. ;)

I guess I'll have to revise the info that I share with folks visiting the observatory. I've always told them that the Andromeda Galaxy is the ONLY light OUTSIDE of our galaxy, that you can see with the unaided eye.

[GOURDHEAD]

I've always told them that the Andromeda Galaxy is the ONLY light OUTSIDE of our galaxy, that you can see with the unaided eye.

If you were in the southern hemisphere, the Magellanic Clouds would also be visible. They'll remain outside our galaxy for yet a little while.

[Dave Mitsky]

Originally posted by Alida Ann@Aug 6 2004, 04:25 AM
Hello everyone.  It's great to be here.

EDIT

Thank you to Dave Mitsky.  This little fact is something I didn't know.  Was this eagle-eyed person also able to see M82?  Maybe the ancients used this as an eye test too, like Mizar and Alcor.  If you could see these, then you had really good eyesight.  ;)

I guess I'll have to revise the info that I share with folks visiting the observatory.  I've always told them that the Andromeda Galaxy is the ONLY light OUTSIDE of our galaxy, that you can see with the unaided eye.
As has already been mentioned both the Magellanic Clouds are visible. They are, in fact, much easier to see than M31.

M33 can also be detected without optical aid, although it is far more difficult to discern than M31.

M83 is reportedly visible to the unaided eye as well but I've never seen it myself. IIRC, NGC 253 and NGC 5128 are also on the naked-eye list.

AFAIK, there have been no reliable reports of M82 having been sighted. It is much dimmer in terms of integrated magnitude and has a lower surface brightness than M81.

Dave Mitsky