Any tips for finding the Andromeda galaxy?

[sbooder]

M31 is really a "big binocular" object more than a telescope object. It certainly produced a WOW when I spotted it last summer through my 15x70, and clearly hinted at a dust lane. It was even better than that using a 22mm Nagler in the 80mm apo (21.8x magnification, 3.76 deg FOV) from a dark site. It looks smaller now because you are looking through a thicker layer of atmosphere. Come back in autumn is a good idea. Go for M81, M82 or M51 instead, or trundle through Coma and Virgo. LOADS of galaxies there.

I must agree. M31 at the moment is not worth it, by the time it gets dark Cassiopeia is so low that you are looking through too much atmosphere.

[eriwig]

Why don't we make a great new sky almanac etc. with layman's terms like above...instead of all the usual scientific malarky:

Declination - up 'n' down

Asterism: funny shape-thing in the sky

Globular cluster: blobby, smudgy thing

Perigee: the Moon's reet close

Apogee: the Moon's reet far

Supernova: bl**dy great big explosion

e/p - peephole

Magnitude 1: bright

magnitude 0: brighter

magniture -1: brighter still

etc.

Now that makes far more sense to me than most things I have read so far!!