A Galaxy Far Far Away
April 28th 2011 02:40
Category: Nebulas
Andromeda Galaxy M31
“ In the beginning” the term sound a bit like a passage from a good book, this may sound a bit cryptic.
The reality for me is that looking at the night sky never gets old. You could say that other individuals like myself have a passion for star gazing.
When I see a small distant lit fuzzy patch in the night sky you can’t help being reminded how insignificant we are. We may whine and complain, feel sorry for ourselves, but for me there is nothing like looking up at the night sky to bring you back down to “earth”.
When we look up at the curtain of light we see countless stars. If you are lucky enough to live in a location that has low light pollution you can clearly see the starry patch work that makes up our galaxy the Milky Way.
We think of our galaxy as a great expanse, yet we are just one of the many galaxies in the universe.
With the naked eye we are able to see distant galaxies beyond our own. The Andromeda galaxy (M31) shares similar characteristics with our Milky Way. The Andromeda galaxy also known as Messier 31 can be seen with just the naked eye and is equally visible with binoculars in urban areas with moderate to high light pollution. The Andromeda galaxy is best seen in clear dark skies with no moonlight.
The Andromeda galaxy is a staggering 2.5 million years away for Earth that is around 26 quintillion kilometers. The Andromeda galaxy has been seen by countless ancient civilizations. It was first documented by a Persian astronomer in 965 AD describing it as a small cloud.
William Herschel correctly stated that the Andromeda galaxy was the closest galaxy to us. He went on to say that the ‘great nebulae’ was situated within our own Milky Way.
It was noted astronomer Edwin Hubble who placed the Andromeda galaxy well beyond our Milky Way.
Andromeda is not visible at this time because it rises during the daylight hours the best time to spot M31 is late October onwards.
Another great nebula to spot is the but they are only visible in the Southern Hemisphere.
Magellanic Clouds
Currently the constellation of Orion offers the observer the chance to see faint distant galaxies.
Orion
Orion as seen from the Southern Hemisphere
The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024 is visible with the naked below the main belt of Orion.
The Orion Constellation is visible in both hemispheres. For Northern hemisphere observers look to the South West low in the sky just after sunset.
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Check this out...
Great post!!!!!!!!!
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Camera Sense
Thank you both for the comments,
Space is perhaps the last frontier the great expanse of the universe is in reach to everyone..
What is remarkable we can have access to all these images and still be able to participate in stargazing at a personal level.