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The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) -- Located in the constellation Andromeda

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HOW TO FIND

THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY:

step 1
Locate the constellation Cassiopeia, the big crown or "W" in the sky.
find Andromeda Glaxy step one
step 2
Identify the star Ruchbah.
find Andromeda Glaxy step two
step 3
Locate the Great Square of Pegasus, which is just to the right of Cassiopeia.
find Andromeda Glaxy step three
step 4
Identify the star Apheratz, located in Pegasus.
find Andromeda Glaxy step four
step 5
Now draw a line between Ruchbah and Alpheratz.
find Andromeda Glaxy step five
step 6
About two-thirds of the way from Ruchbah to Apheratz, just below your imaginary line, is where you'll find the Andromeda Galaxy.
find Andromeda Glaxy step six

Congratulations! You've just found a whole other galaxy. And it's not just any galaxy. Andromeda, at a mere 2.5 million light years away, is pretty darn close in astronomical terms, so make sure you offer a neighborly wave while you have it in your sights.

NOW FIND

The Crab Nebula

The Andromeda Story

In Greek mythology, Andromeda is the princess of mythic Ethiopia. The Andromeda constellation depicts her chained to a rock- a reference to her being left as a sacrifice to a sea monster as punishment for her mother's indiscretion. Her parents, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, are also immortalized in their own constellations. A fourth figure from this myth, Perseus, is also present in the night sky. Perseus rescued Andromeda from her predicament, and the two went on to marry as heroes and damsels often do.

  • Despite being 2.5 million light years away, Andromeda is visible with the naked eye on clear, moonless nights.
  • Andromeda is not the nearest galaxy to our own, though it is the nearest spiral galaxy and the brightest galaxy in our night sky.
  • The most recent calculations indicate that the Andromeda galaxy is comprised of about a trillion stars, which is significantly more than the comparatively paltry 300 billion stars that make up the Milky Way.
  • Thought the number of stars in these two galaxies is vastly different, recent calculations suggest that the masses of the galaxies are roughly the same. This is attributed to the presence of more dark matter in the Milky Way.
  • The Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies are moving toward one another, and it appears that they are on a collision course. But don't hold your breath- that galactic wreck isn't scheduled to occur for another 2.5 billion years. And even then, the consequences for our Solar System may well be negligible.

    • Find the Andromeda Galaxy with Ease

    Telescopes

    While many amateur astronomers think manually finding Andromeda and other objects is part of the fun, go-to telescopes definitely make finding anything virtually effortless.

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    Telescope Eyepieces

    If you're impressed with the sight of things through your standard-issue eyepieces, try a set of higher quality eyepieces. It's like seeing things again for the first time.

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    Telescope Accessories

    Viewing Andromeda is quite a thrill. Once you've seen it, your appetite for observation won't soon be satiated. Good thing we have all these telescope accessories to keep the thrill alive.

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    M42 & M13: courtesy of Tim Hunter and James McGaha, Grasslands Observatory at http://www.3towers.com; M31 & M45: courtesy of Herm Perez, http://home.att.net/~hermperez/default.htm; M8: courtesy of Bob Star, http://www.flickr.com/photos/52031391@N00/70287323 / CC BY 2.0

    helpful information

    2009: The International Year of Astronomy

    With the theme "The Universe, Yours to Discover," a United Nations agency is bringing astronauts, artists, scientists, academics, and others together during the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first observation of the heavens in 1609.

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