can the andromeda galaxy (m31) be seen with binos?

[ak47]

hello!

i have the opportunity to spent the next couple of nights in a location with very low light pollution , and according to the

weather forecasts the sky going to be nice and clear.

i want to take advantage of the good conditions and try to watch the m31, would it be visible (even as a dim fuzzy) through a pair of 10x50 binoculars? or i should i give up the idea...

thanks! 

[olawelin]

Yes it should be visible as a fuzzy little cloud in the sky, use a tripod if you have one, good luck!

[Myopicus]

Should be do-able with dark-adapted eyes and a pair 10x50', especially if you have a good dark sky / night.

It will be faint and fuzzy tho! Good luck. 

[skywatcher58gb]

Hi ak47 

Yes easily seen through 10x50 binos, at a dark site you may well be able to see it naked eye with slightly averted vision.

Dave

[faulksy]

were are you hopeing to go

[Paul M]

Even with my aging eyes M31 is an easy naked eye target from a dark site. Perhaps seeing it is easy once you find it. "wow! is that it!?" You'll say as the penny drops.

Bins will certainly help in marginal conditions. 

Here's a nice guide: http://binocularsky.com/binoc_object_file.php?object_id=M31&aperture=100

[brantuk]

You can see it naked eye - so with binocs on a clear night and a dark site it's going to be an absolute doddle - if you know where it is that is. Currently you'll find it at midnight very low on the northern horizon in all the murk and atmosphere. It rises to a viewable elevation around 3am alongside Pegasus. It would be better around 5am if it weren't for daylight on the break.

I'll be waiting a few months before I attempt it - probably after summer.

[ak47]

thank you guys! 

as i don't own a scope, this is the first time I'm trying to watch a dso with my binos, and I'm quiet excited! hope i wont be disappointed 

are there any other fuzzies visible through binos i should try watching?

[acey]

What you can see at this time of year depends on your latitude - if you're in north of England or Scotland then you'll have little or no full darkness. Darkest time of night is "local midnight", which is around 1a.m. since we're on Summer Time, so that's the best time to try. At a place with little light pollution, no moon and full night-time darkness there are a great many DSOs that can be seen with binoculars. Some people have managed all of the Messier objects with 10x50s - I had my first view of quite a few of them with that sort of instrument. But the most important thing is having a dark sky.

[genrege]

Try the Orion nebula - that was the first DSO I saw through binos, though this time of year it's dipped below the horizon

[Paul M]

How about having a go at M13 in Hercules?

It's a bright Globular Cluster. Will only be a fuzzy blob in bins but a nice one to tick off the list: http://binocularsky.com/binoc_object_file.php?object_id=M13&aperture=100

[Astro Imp]

From my moderately light polluted garden with hand held 8x42 bins it is easy on a good transparent night, that is later in the year when it is higher in the sky. At a dark sky site and 10x50 bins M31 will be easy, once you find it. 

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[ronin]

Binoculars are probably the best way to see Andromeda, you can at least see it all in one go which a scope generally does not allow.

[Davey-T]

I can see it easily from SE London with 10x50 bin's, don't expect it to look like astro images though

Dave 

[ChrisLX200]

Easy to see naked-eye from my back garden, which isn't blessed with pristine dark skies.

ChrisH

[nameunknown]

Easy to see with the naked eye, especially if you get that "averted vision" trick off pat (it is useful in other ways ..).  You obviously know how to read a sky map  ... just count along from that big square, up a couple and dodge (i.e I'm too dumb to post sketches).

Anything from opera glasses to a "Mines BIgger Than Yours" Dob should see it. 10x50's should be fine - but expect a fuzzy patch.

Freaky thing is .. that light falling like rain from Adromeda is 2.5ish milllion years old. All that way, poor photon, to fall in my eye..

P

[LukeSkywatcher]

Its visible in 10x50 bins as a small grey smudge against the dark sky. In my 20x90 bins, its still just a small grey smudge not much bigger then in the 10x50 bins. The excitement is knowing what you are looking at, how big it is and how far away it is.

[Astro Imp]

I have seen numerous references to M31 looking like just a grey smudge. IMO this applies when the transparency is poor but when I view with a good transparent sky and no moon I find a very bright centre and an extended faint halo. BTW this is all from my back garden in the middle of a village with yellow street lights all around but none directly shining at my viewing point. 

Just the way I see this object and not wishing to be controversial. 

[ak47]

thank you all!

going to try it tonight... ill let you know the outcome 

[RichM63]

From here, M31 is easily visible naked eye but at this time of year it is simply too low for me and dawn starts from around 4.30 so not great either. M31 back in December was great at a sensible 20.30

Now, M13 at around 23.30 has replaced M31 in a very similar area of sky (at least I think that I am looking at M13).

I find that I am using my binoculars more often at this time, because of no setup time and limited weather openings when I am awake.

[brantuk]

If you've ever seen M31 in a 20" Lukehurst dob with a 35mm Panoptic, you will still be dragging your jaw around on the floor. It's gobsmacking with the core and fine detail of the dust lanes in all their glory in plain view. I was dumbstruck I'm not kidding. It's only a fuzzy patch in binocs but nonetheless a beautiful sight. 15x70's give a distinct galaxy shape on a clear night at a very dark site.

[ak47]

the sky has betrayed me! hehe...

anyway i went outside last night at about midnight, M31 was about to rise to a good visible location only around 3:30, but i wanted to come early to watch some other stuff as well.

the sky was bright and clear, no clouds with minimal light pollution, so i got some really nice views of stars and constellations

that usually are very difficult to see from my hometown (draco's head, hercules...), mars and saturn was brighter then i have even seen.

i took my laptop with me and thanks to stellarium i was also able to track down a few satellites including a very short glimpse of the almighty Tiangong-1 (!), even though they only look like small moving dots of light, i always get pretty excited to spot satellites.

at about 2:30 the sky became cloudy , and after an hour it got even worse so i wasn't able to look for M31... what a disappointment, and i don't think i can try it again tonight,

so maybe some other time, its not like its going anywhere (at least not for the next couple of billion years...) .  

[soundwave]

Hi ak47, 

I'm also in Israel (beer-sheva)!  ...and around here the skies also became misty/cloudy at about 3am... such a bummer.

But on the bright side, in Andromeda's case, you should only get better and better views the longer you wait, since it's heading right for us

I've only started learning the sky and using a scope, so I doubt I could even find M31 (especially since I've had trouble finding Altair in my finder-scope lol)

But I wish you the best of luck on your next try! 

[ak47]

hi soundwave! congrats on your new scope (saw your post earlier...)

Beer-Sheva is like half an hour from the clearest and darkest sky in the country...  i bet you'll get some marvellous views from there!