Believe I saw M31 for first time...hard to say!

[SacRiker]

Been away from the stars for a few months but decided to venture out into the back yard tonight since the sky has changed so much. I had one goal -- see Andromeda. I star hopped from Pegasus and very, very quickly saw what looked like a faint globular cluster. Is that what M31 looks like under light polluted skies (I live in a major US city). Is it not possible at all to see the spiral arms from a city? I focused on it for a long time but couldn't make anything out beside the nucleus (if that's what I was seeing).

[iPeace]

My best views so far have shown an elongated fuzzy with a brighter core; no actual spiral arms to be seen. Under light pollution, the elongated bits are much fainter to me, but still visible.

[Saganite]

Hi 

What you describe is about all you will see under heavy light pollution. I recently viewed it from a dark site, and I could see a bright central core which seemed almost to be a bright star in the foreground, and a couple of dust lanes. I observed it again last night from a small town ,with strong light pollution, and saw pretty much the same as you.

If you can get to a site away from LP it will be worth it.

 

good luck

[Davesellars]

While the central core of M31 is very bright - easily done with pretty heavy LP to be honest.  The remainder of it needs pretty dark skies.  To get an inkling of the dust lanes I need a good dark night with great transparency - able to see approx mag 5.3 mag stars naked eye.  If you can see M31 naked eye this is a reasonable indicator to start although I imagine really needs mag 6+ skies to properly get those spirals in view.  Also higher power is necessary with any LP.  Using low power you'll just get a washed out view.

[SacRiker]

Well it was still pretty amazing nonetheless. I really need to get out to a dark site but it's no small ordeal! Thanks for the info everyone.

[Size9Hex]

Good effort! It's a thrill to see something so huge and remote for the first time. Your description sounds about right - you're seeing the core as a faint round glow, perhaps a little like a globular but with a smooth surface texture not resolved into stars. That's how it looks to me when the full moon is near by in the sky which is a good approximation for city light pollution.

I think Dave makes some great points that match my own experience, but I'd add that to see in the dust lanes in a mag 5.3 sky, I first had to see them in a mag 6 sky!

Even if you can just take binoculars out next time you're away from city, you'll see a wonderful long galaxy spanning across the whole field of view.

[SacRiker]

34 minutes ago, Size9Hex said:

Good effort! It's a thrill to see something so huge and remote for the first time. Your description sounds about right - you're seeing the core as a faint round glow, perhaps a little like a globular but with a smooth surface texture not resolved into stars. That's how it looks to me when the full moon is near by in the sky which is a good approximation for city light pollution.

I think Dave makes some great points that match my own experience, but I'd add that to see in the dust lanes in a mag 5.3 sky, I first had to see them in a mag 6 sky!

Even if you can just take binoculars out next time you're away from city, you'll see a wonderful long galaxy spanning across the whole field of view.

Yes, your description is dead on. It was like a globular but without the sparkling diamond like appearance of the Hercules cluster.