EarthSky Tonight—Sept. 29, Star-hop from Great Square to Andromeda galaxy
Posted By admin On September 29, 2010 @ 9:06 am In Earth & Sky | Comments Disabled
Courtesy of EarthSky
A Clear Voice for Science
www.EarthSky.org [1]
[2]
[3]The Great Square of Pegasus is a great jumping off point for finding the Andromeda galaxy, otherwise known as M31. The Great Square sparkles over your eastern horizon at early evening, then travels westward across the sky throughout the night. For some idea of the Great Square’s size, extend your hand an arm length from your eye. You will see that any two Great Square stars are farther apart than the width of your hand.
As seen from mid-northern latitudes, the Square of Pegasus looks like a baseball diamond whenever it resides in the eastern sky. Imagine the farthest star to the left – Alpheratz – as the third-base star. A line drawn from the first-base star through Alpheratz points in the general direction of the Andromeda galaxy.
If it is dark enough, you will see two streamers of stars flying to the north (or left) of the star Alpheratz. To me, this grouping of stars looks like a bugle or a cornucopia. Along the bottom streamer, star-hop from Alpheratz to the star Mirach. Draw a line from Mirach through the upper streamer star, and go twice the distance. You have just located the Andromeda galaxy!
If you cannot see this fuzzy patch of light with the unaided eye, maybe your sky is not dark enough. Try binoculars! If you can find the Great Square of Pegasus, then you can star-hop to the Andromeda galaxy!
Andromeda galaxy, closest spiral to Milky Way [4]
Written by Bruce McClure [5]
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA/JPL [6]
U.S. Naval Observator Astronomical Information cente [8]r
Universe Today [9]
StarDate Online [10]
Sky and Telescope [11]
National Geographic [12]
Space Com [13]
Simostronomy Blog [14]
Amazing Space [15]
The York County Astronomical Society [16]
Scope City [17]
Article printed from Recorder Online: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com
URL to article: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2010/09/29/earthsky-tonight%e2%80%94sept-29-star-hop-from-great-square-to-andromeda-galaxy/
URLs in this post:
[1] www.EarthSky.org: http://www.EarthSky.org
[2] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/phase.gif
[3] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/10sep29_430.jpg
[4] Andromeda galaxy, closest spiral to Milky Way: http://earthsky.org/tonightpost/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/andromeda-galaxy-closest-spiral-to-milky-way
[5] Bruce McClure: http://earthsky.org/author/brucemcclure/
[6] Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA/JPL: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/
[7] CHANDRA Photo Album: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/
[8] U.S. Naval Observator Astronomical Information cente: http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-center/astronomical-information-center
[9] Universe Today: http://www.universetoday.com/
[10] StarDate Online: http://stardate.org/
[11] Sky and Telescope: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance/
[12] National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/
[13] Space Com: http://www.space.com/nightsky/
[14] Simostronomy Blog: http://simostronomy.blogspot.com/
[15] Amazing Space: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/tonights_sky/
[16] The York County Astronomical Society: http://www.ycas.org/tonights_sky.htm
[17] Scope City: http://www.scopecity.net/
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