Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
This is the first object that requires finding. I've only
seen it with the unaided eye on a few occassions. If you use Beta and Mu
Andromedae as pointers, you scan upwards until you find it. It may require
a bit of practice but, like riding a bicycle, is a skill once mastered,
never forgotten. It normally looks like a hazy patch with 50mm binoculars
under average conditions (it just shows its nucleus) but under good conditions
you may see that it contains a nucleus and surrounding area. I was lucky
enough to catch it with 70mm binoculars on an exceptional night. I saw
its full oval extent of 3x1 degrees and a hint of spiral structure. The
binocular view is very similar to the binocular view, below:
Photograph courtesy of Brian Woosnam.
If you get the chance to see it through a telescope, remember
to use the lowest power possible. It is 6 times the area of the full moon.
M31 is at RA 00h 42.7m Dec +41 deg 16 min.
M31 is circumpolar from the U.K. However, as its light
is distributed over a large area, I wouldn't try before midnight July or
after sunset past March, as it gets lost in the haze near the horizon.
October is the best month to see it when it is nearly overhead during the
evening.
Reputedly, the furthest object that can be seen with the
naked eye from the earth. However, you'll be lucky to see it, except from
an extremely dark site under good conditions. It has a magnitude of 3.7
but, as the brightness is spread over a large area, it is quite difficult.
I've seen it with 7x30 binoculars. With small binoculars and telescopes,
it appears as a fuzzy patch. With something a bit larger (15x70 binoculars
are pretty good), you can see a nucleus and fainter areas. You will need
to go to a large amateur telescope to see the spiral structure.
It is (quite rightly) described as an autumn object, for
then it is high in the sky and at its best. However, it is actually circumpolar
from the UK and I have seen it in the evening sky as late as March and
as early as July.
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