Now that we are well into Fall, the night sky presents us with a number of interesting objects to observe.
Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are still with us and easy to spot in the evening sky.
One of the favorite Fall targets for Amateur astronomers is a much more distant and fainter object. This is the Andromeda Galaxy. The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest largest galaxy to our Milky Way Galaxy. It’s about 2.5 million light years away, meaning it takes 2.5 million years for the light from its distant stars to reach us.
The Andromeda Galaxy has a diameter of 220,000 light years and contains at least a 1 trillion stars.
The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the Milky Way Galaxy and the two galaxies are expected to merge into one giant elliptical galaxy in about four billion years.
The Andromeda Galaxy is the most distant object outside our Milky Way that we can see with our naked eyes. Binoculars can reveal even more details. If the galaxy were brighter it would span six full moons.
The Andromeda Galaxy is located in the Andromeda constellation. The galaxy is located between the constellations of Cassiopeia, shaped like a W, and the Square of Pegasus.
Another easy way to locate the Andromeda Galaxy is to locate the square of Pegasus, formed by four stars, then the chain of stars that extend east from the upper left of the Pegasus square at the star Alpheratz. The galaxy is just above the middle star in the chain, called Mirach and looks like a smudge of light to the naked eye. It also helps to have a dark sky.
