To add to the incredible size of this galaxy in our skies, astronomers have detected a giant bubble of gas surrounding this already massive galaxy. When you view the Andromeda Galaxy in binoculars or a small telescope, you are really viewing the nucleus and not the fainter spiral arms, etc. The galaxy is actually larger than the apparent size of the moon in our sky. The true size of the galaxy in terms of its angular diameter is even more impressive. Imagine viewing this object with just your naked eye – 2.5 million light years distant. The galaxy can actually be seen with the naked eye at the best of dark sky sites. On a dark and moonless night, M31 is quite easy to see in a pair of binoculars and of course, best in a telescope. Here is a basic finder chart for the constellation and the galaxy. Arizona time, the Andromeda Galaxy fits right into the ancient constellation of Andromeda, the daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus. Located high in the northeastern sky around 9 p.m.
#Old skychart andromeda how to
Let’s now look at how to find this celestial treat in our preHalloween skies!
Thought to contain well over 1 trillion stars, this galaxy is larger than our Milky Way. Think of that for just a moment – the light that you see from this massive galaxy left the stars of Andromeda 2.5 million years ago and got here in October of 2020.
With the advent of modern telescopes and science, the Andromeda Galaxy is now known to be some 2.5 million light years from us. Here is an image of the Andromeda Galaxy as viewed from Earth. In 1764 famed comet observer Charles Messier cataloged the Andromeda Galaxy as his listed object known as M31! In 1612, astronomer Simon Marius described the galaxy as the “Little Cloud” on his star chart of that era. He described the object as a “nebulous smear.”
Here on Earth and in Arizona, we get to view one of the most amazing galactic objects known to mankind – the great Andromeda Galaxy.Īndromeda is one of the largest and nearest of the major galaxies which harbor around the Milky Way.įirst observed with the naked eye, around 964 A.D., by Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi.
0 kommentar(er)
