M31 the little grey blob

[theghettostylus]

So last night I managed to get an hour or 2 with the scope (150p) and went for M31 and by whatever miracle I managed to find it but as always finding a small smudge on a black sky is hard, I put on my higher power ep but still could only see a bigger smudge I know I won't be seeing some amazing hubble type stuff but could the real lack of any detail be because the moon is positioned underneath and very bright at the moment?

I did get my camera out and take a few shots which on the computer revealed the other 2 neighboring galaxies so at least I have found 2 deep sky objects now in my short time of owning a telescope.

Anyway... Before I go off on one.

Thanks in advance.

[Herra Kuulapaa]

It's not a good time to observe or shoot M31. M45 would be even harder if you like the challenge though

After a week it's totally different if just skies are clear.

[theghettostylus]

I was far to excited as andromeda has been hiding behind the massive tree in the garden and couldn't wait to see it aha I only took the camera out really to confirm it was M31 I was seeing as I never know if I'm in the right place.

But hopefully the skies will be clear once the moon has done it's disappearing act

[John]

Even without the Moon M31 does not change too dramatically. Rather than just the central core you get to see the central core in a wider extended oval haze under a darker sky.

When the Moon is out of the way you should be able to see those neighbouring galaxes visually. M32 is a bright hazy spot close to M31 on one side and M110 is a fainter, more diffuse oval a little further away on the other side of M31. You should be able to see all 3 in the same field of view of a low powered eyepiece.

Often I think the binocular view of M31 is at least as good as it is with a scope.

[ollypenrice]

The golden rule of galaxy observing is darkness. When you are away from LP (and the moon is the worst offender!) you can do far better. Galaxies and moon don't mix. Also, the higher in the sky they are the better galaxies appear. As John says, a good view in binoculars can be a treat. We had some excellent transparency last dark time and the sheer extent of M31 in 8x42 was breath-taking. Don't under-estimate its size or think you've seen it all till you have worked hard to see beyond the obvious parts.

Olly

[spaceman_spiff]

M31 was the first deep sky object I observed in my scope. I was blown away by its shape and the dust lane just above the core of the galaxy. It is large...I couldn't fit it all in using a 25mm eyepiece. I have a nice 2 inch 32mm eyepiece, M31 really is a treat through that.

[kev100]

Hiya. I've found that my best view of Andromeda isn't measured in terms of whether I've seen any detail, or the dust lane, or the satellite galaxies. Rather, it's when I can clearly discern that the galaxy is a disc, tilted away from us, rather than as a flat, face-on oval smudge. I've only seen it like that a few times, and it's always been on exceptionally clear and dark nights.

[estwing]

yes it will always be a grey blob unless you can get away from the LP of stoke!....well done on bagging it tho..clear skies...

[lensman57]

So last night I managed to get an hour or 2 with the scope (150p) and went for M31 and by whatever miracle I managed to find it but as always finding a small smudge on a black sky is hard, I put on my higher power ep but still could only see a bigger smudge I know I won't be seeing some amazing hubble type stuff but could the real lack of any detail be because the moon is positioned underneath and very bright at the moment?

I did get my camera out and take a few shots which on the computer revealed the other 2 neighboring galaxies so at least I have found 2 deep sky objects now in my short time of owning a telescope.

Anyway... Before I go off on one.

Thanks in advance.

M31 has a very bright core but the outer reaches are extremely faint so while observing through a small aperture scope all you see is a fuzzy blob which is the core. Using high power EP is actually counter productive as it narrows the FOV to the centre of the core. Use a high quality WF EP and use averted vision to try and see the extent of the galaxy. For reference M31 has an angular diameter 9 times the size of the full Moon so it is a colossal object in deep sky. You will also not see much if any colour at all as our vision is geared towards detail and movement and we are weak in colour.

A.G

[Bukko]

Lensman is spot on - the best view of M31 I have seen was from my 8x50 finder. I could make out much more of the disk, so the best option for this massive object is to go wide on EP's, or use bins.

Oh, and get rid of the Moon...

(Sorry moon-watchers, but it really does get in the way!!)

Gordon.