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Andromeda galaxy - fuzzy blob

Angelika

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JamesF

JamesF

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What's fascinating about andromeda is the fact that the light from the fuzzy blob you're seeing, first started it's journey when dinosaurs walked the Earth.

Hmmm. Are you sure about that? Andromeda is 2.5m light years away, but IIRC the dinosaurs died out around 65 million years ago. It's certainly way, way before anything vaguely recognisable as modern humans existed though.

I do find it quite humbling to think that light from our nearest galactic neighbour started its journey when our ancestors quite possibly resembled chimpanzees more than homo sapiens, its ultimate destiny having crossed all that distance, shot down through the lenses of my telescope being to reach the back of my eye and disappear forever.

James

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JamesF

JamesF

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I've always (ALWAYS) found galaxies and other "faint fuzzies" to be a monumental disappointment when eyeballed. At best you see a faint patch of grey that's slightly lighter than the surrounding background. At worst you mess around for an hour in the freezing cold and come away with nothing.

To misquote something I can't find a reference for, for me the surprising thing is not that they are seen poorly, but that they are seen at all.

James

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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Hi

Some say the photographs are much better, but:

When you actually start looking at the photographs how much detail is there?

Dust lanes, well they can be seen by the eye. apart from them it's still an oval glow brightening towards the centre which is exactly what you see in the eyepiece.

Andromeda is not IMO the finest galaxy in the sky by a long way.

If you wish to see Galactic structure try M33 from a dark sky, this is a truly breathtaking Galaxy that shows a wealth of detail.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Look, the main thing here is dead simple, it's the moon! You can't go galaxy hunting in this level of moonlight, it's hopeless. There won't be any astronomical darkness where I am till Thursday of this week and even then it is a matter of minutes. At the moment I can walk around outside as if it were daytime. Leave it till next week.

Secondly you will not see much structure in an 8 inch. In a 20 inch it remains fuzzy but two of the dust lanes show clearly and the galaxy 'grows' with aperture. Go for the widest field you can, it will never be wide enough. But it is a fine sight.

Olly

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great_bear

great_bear

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I've seen focal reducers advertised but don't know the maths to calculate what that would mean for my view.

f6.6 focal reducer = multiply min mag by 0.66, and with a f3.3 focal reducer = multiply min mag by 0.33

- doesn't guarantee the whole field of view of the eyepiece will be visible though - that depends on your scope...

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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f6.6 focal reducer = multiply min mag by 0.66, and with a f3.3 focal reducer = multiply min mag by 0.33

- doesn't guarantee the whole field of view of the eyepiece will be visible though - that depends on your scope...

Whoa, care needed here. Firstly the 3.3 SCT reducer is CCD only, not visual. Even then it only covers tiny chips.

Secondly the vignetting which limits an SCT field of view arises ultimately from the baffle tube so using a focal reducer when also using a 2 inch widefield EP will not increase your field of veiw.

Olly

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chemtom24

chemtom24

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I get really excited when I find a DSO. Even if it's a fuzzy blob, just knowing that I'm viewing it through my own eyes feels very humbling

see, i do get excited at what im seeing - im fulyl aware that it isnt just isnt any old grey blob, its an M&S grey blob... :) but seriously, i do appreciate the phsyics behind it - but i still cant help but want to see more :)

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chemtom24

chemtom24

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Sounds like the first signs of aperture fever to me.:)

Regards Steve

says the man with 2 massive kno.. er i mean dobs ;)

aperture will have to wait for now until either i get cheap accomodationf or the next year :( or till i graduate :)

is it people liek me who want thigns NOW that got us into this poor economy, or the peopel who lent us the money? ;)

(actually they dont lend so much... student bank account wont let you max out - however they were mopre than happy to offer me a credit card the cheeky gits!! )

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great_bear

great_bear

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Whoa, care needed here. [...]

the vignetting which limits an SCT field of view arises ultimately from the baffle tube

Erm... That's what I meant by "depends on your scope" :)

so using a focal reducer when also using a 2 inch widefield EP will not increase your field of veiw.

Not necessarily true. You may be surprised; some subtle stuff goes on with the light path when you go messing like this, and you can get situations where an eyepiece+reducer gives a larger, unvignetted visual field than another eyepiece of equivalent focal length.

- as I say, it depends on the scope - and it's certainly not wise to buy a reducer without checking out various eyepiece/reducer combinations in your scope prior to purchase...

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Nexus 6

Nexus 6

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best advice I can give you is the same as was given to me and its well known when it comes to Andromeda....its a great sight when using binoculars, I had my 1st view of it for many months a few days ago, brought a smile to my face just to see it back again. :)

I do not mind the fact I am only looking at a grey smudge, its the reality of what it is that I find astounding and that I can see it at all. :)

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inkpen

inkpen

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Hi inkpen. You must be using a 40mm eyepiece to give 70x. If you get a 6.3 focal reducer, the focal length would come down to 1764mm, so the same 40mm EP would give 44x, and a wider field of view. Divide the apparent FOV by the magnification to give the FOV in degrees.

So a 40mm plossl, apparent field of about 42 degrees produces -

42/44 = .95 degrees. You can call that 1 degree. So you will only

see the central core of this 3 degree galaxy.

HTH, Ed.

Edit - post #11 is your best bet with M31.

Thanks that's the info I was looking for - and point taken about the 20x90 bins!

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Simms

Simms

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What's fascinating about andromeda is the fact that the light from the fuzzy blob you're seeing, first started it's journey when dinosaurs walked the Earth.

Dinosaurs? 2 millions years ago? :BangHead:

I think Homo-erectus was mooching about at that period - the Dinosaurs were long gone by then! Its still incredible to think about the distances involved though, 186,000 miles per second over 2 million years - and the galaxy still looks huge to us - it kind of puts it into perspective how huge the universe is - my tiny little brain cannot quite comprehend the size - it is kind of overwhelming!

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Simms

Simms

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You were viewing with the moon out. That will really wash out the image. Big time. Try again next week: it'll look much better.

Your 8" should show the dust lanes in dark skies if you know what to look for.

www.deepskywatch.com/images/sketches/M31-Andromeda-galaxy-sketch.jpg

A massive telescope helps, but it's not necessary.

That sketch is bang on! Is it yours? If so then well done - you certainly have observing & drawing skills.

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Angelika

Angelika

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Thank you to everyone who replied. I can hardly wait for next week when we are camping and the skies will be much MUCH darker. I am anticipating a much better viewing of the Andromeda galaxy and although I was disappointed at the viewing I got at home, I am very thrilled that I found it. Everyone has given me great pieces of advice and its going to help me out alot. I appreciate it very much. As a newbie I truely have LOTS to learn. Thanks again

I love the night sky

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Erm... That's what I meant by "depends on your scope" :BangHead:

Not necessarily true. You may be surprised; some subtle stuff goes on with the light path when you go messing like this, and you can get situations where an eyepiece+reducer gives a larger, unvignetted visual field than another eyepiece of equivalent focal length.

- as I say, it depends on the scope - and it's certainly not wise to buy a reducer without checking out various eyepiece/reducer combinations in your scope prior to purchase...

OK but the 3.3 reducer is SCT only bnd CCD only, or am I wrong?

Olly

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Nexus 6

Nexus 6

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Thank you to everyone who replied. I can hardly wait for next week when we are camping and the skies will be much MUCH darker. I am anticipating a much better viewing of the Andromeda galaxy and although I was disappointed at the viewing I got at home, I am very thrilled that I found it. Everyone has given me great pieces of advice and its going to help me out alot. I appreciate it very much. As a newbie I truely have LOTS to learn. Thanks again

I love the night sky

Good luck Angelika, its definately worth another look, those dark skies will be great for observing it and a lot of other magical objects up there. :BangHead:

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