andromida

[BUSMANMARK]

Hi all,this probably sounds like a silly question but im trying to find the andromida galaxy by star hopping but with no luck im very new to this so please bear with me all help would be greatfuly apreciated thanks.

[rory]

use lowest mag you have ,or finderscope will show it too. theres a few ways to find her, but i simply move from mirach up toward the next star,now the next star in the line bends out at 11 o clock from the second star ,so i ignore that one and just carry on straight up through the line made by mirach and the star above. the distance between those two is the distance you need to go again to get m31 in the e/p.

others prefer to use cassiopia to locate it, but i find moving up rather than down to it easier.

have you a star atlas ? sky and telescopes pocket atlas will help you alot.

and/or download stellarium ,you can look at the star patterns or even print them off if needed.

hope that helps. just remember lowest mag , looks like a hazey cloud. good luck.

[onmehedson]

Hi, the way i usually do it (aint done it for a while though) using naked eye is starting from the top left star in the square of pegasus go 2 stars to the left following the `leg` then 2 stars up.

if you imagine the this star is at the center of a clock face then the galaxy is roughly at 2 o`clock not far from this star.

It appears a a large grey smudge, well it does to me !!

Good hunting....

File:Andromeda constellation map (1).png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[BUSMANMARK]

Thanks Rory i will have a look at stellarium now looks like it might be good again tonight.

[rory]

well the way onmehson explained his starhop,is basicly the same way more or less.

except he explained it far better

2 stars across from the square is mirach the star i mentioned.

if all else fails, just generally slew around the area slowly and you should bag it mate.

[onmehedson]

Thanx Rory, your description is spot on too...

I was typing my thread as you posted yours..

So Busman, both ways should get you there..

[Dipper]

The way I find Andromeda Galaxy is by Jupiter.

Jupiter is now in Aries constellation, at the very bottom of it. If you go up from Jupiter (which is now very bright at -2.0 mag or even brighter), find two brightest stars of Aries, Hamal (2.0) and Sheratan (2.6), that along with other two main stars form half of a parabola, then go further up to Andromeda constellation (between Aries and Andromeda there is also the Triangulum constellation but it is not very bright) there is Mirach, another bright second magnitude star. Follow the same direction straight up until you see Mu Andromedae and Nu Andromedae (both third-fourth mag stars) and the next fuzzy thing you see is the Andromeda Galaxy itself. You can't miss it even in binoculars.

[BUSMANMARK]

Many thanks to all of you weather permitting i will have a look tonight dark sky,s everyone.

[MikeP]

Hi there,

I just posted this link in another thread where the OP was also struggling to find Andromeda ... Starhopping 101: Find the Andromeda Galaxy | Space.com

Mike

[Tinker1947]

i have linked a Telrad map, u don't need a Telrad but it would help, use the Telrad function in Stellarium to find the stars to hop from, hope this helps..

http://www.astro-tom.com/messier/messier_finder_charts/map3.pdf

[aCOLON]

Sorry to go off topic but would this galaxy be viewable with a skywatcher 130m telescope?

[John]

Sorry to go off topic but would this galaxy be viewable with a skywatcher 130m telescope?

Yes - it's the brightest galaxy in our sky. I can just about see it with just my eyes on a very dark night here. Binoculars can see it fairly easily too. Your scope will show you quite a lot of other galaxies too, once you know where they are in the sky.

[badgers]

It helps to set up the Oculars mode in Stellurium and set it up for altaz or eq.

That way you should see something roughly similar to what your finderscope will show and you can practice the star-hop in stellurium before trying it on the scope.

I use my RA setting circle. Its not super accurate, but it usually gets Andromeda into the finder with one attempt after calibrating it on a bright star of known location.

Badgers

[Moonshane]

I'd expect M31 to be visible with naked eyes from Portland. If you have binoculars then try these first and it should be readily visible and show you where it is in the sky more easily.

Just look at the sharper of the two 'arrows' that make up the W of Cassiopaea and go in the same direction that it points with the bins. This will take you to the fuzzy blob which is the galaxy. you can then take a closer look with the scope but it will always be a fuzzy blob unless you have a lot of aperture.