M31 in light pollution

[Chihlidog]

I live in the city so light pollution is pretty horrendous. I know about where to look for M31 and am convinced I can find it regularly, but now am second guessing myself. With my 10x50 binocs, I can see a small smudge so incredibly faint you almost think you're imagining it. But move the binocs and scan the area again, and it appears again. It's impossibly faint, really so faint I cant put it into words, and through the binocs appears to be an elliptical smudge slanting from the left upwards towards the right.

Do I want so badly to see M31 that I've convinced myself this is it, or would you call that an accurate description given the conditions?

[sologuitarist61]

Sounds to me like you have found it OK, you won't see much more than that smudge I'm afraid unless you start imaging and collecting those elusive photons. They are few and far between so the eye never sees many at a time, hence the smudge, whereas the camera can colect them over time and build up the image

[Stu]

Definitely sounds like it from your description, and you know you were looking in the right place. Good stuff

The only answer really is to take your binos out to a dark sight, get your eyes dark adapted and you'll see a much larger smudge.

Andromeda is a strange one, although very big it doesn't show too much detail regardless of the scope you are using. Binos from a dark site give a very good view.

Stu

[Capricorn]

Sounds just about right for M31.

Binoculars are really about the best method for finding and seeing it.

If that faint light grey indistinct smudge can be called seeing it.

[Damo636]

Sounds like you got it, congrats! As already mentioned, get yourself to a dark site, the view will be much nicer.

[Velvet]

Sounds right to me, pretty sure you found it. Description fits, well done

Velvet

[swamp thing]

Sure sounds like it to me.

M31 is a real tease as with it's brightness (central core) you think it will give up some detail when you put the scope to it.......but no, often it's just a bigger smudge.

To see anything of note you really need dark skies.

From a VLM5 sky you can just make out one of the dust lanes in a 4" scope, but it's not easy. From darker skies the dust lanes are easier and in larger scopes they start to show some structure. The best I've seen it was from VLM7 site through a 16" scope, the dust lanes were really detailed and displayed a great deal of structure, but the best views IMO were still to be had through my 15x70 bins. Through these the entire size was visible wow! The full extent of the spiral arms is staggering, almost filling the FOV of the bins. A really awe inspiring sight.

[Alastair Rae]

I've never managed to see it in my LP skies in London. Had to get out of town to find it.

[Damo636]

It will be a sight to behold in a couple of million years time when its colliding into our own Milky Way galaxy!

[Chihlidog]

Appreciate the feedback. I really started questioning whether I was imagining it or whether it's just an aberration with the optics or whether my eyes were just going funny. It really is THAT faint. It seemed a bit higher last night relative to Cassiopeia than I remember it being before - I use the top point of the "w" of Cassiopeia to find it and it seemed about level with that if not a bit more elevated - though they were both quite high in the sky so perhaps it was just a trick of perspective. I'm really not experienced at ALL with DSOs, my observations have long been the easy planets just due to the fact that I have a low-end telescope and a bad viewing spot.

You guys have reassured me that I have indeed seen it and been able to find it consistently. REALLY appreciate it.

[alan potts]

That sound like it for me. I am lucky I can see it fairly easily from my house without any optial aid, I can also see M13, well a tiny smudge of light, it is not as clear as M31.

Alan.

[Lorne]

From my experience, even viewing from the same dark site is how much the view changes with conditions. Ive seen feint smudge with no satellite galaxies, (M32 & M110) to an obvious bright oval with detail and both satellite galaxies showing. Always worth going back to every session.

[Marc1980]

I was looking at M13 and M31 last night and they look similar. M31 came out a little more elongated than M13 and with a slightly brighter core.