Andromeda Galaxy from the City

[mikemarotta]

I live within Austin, Texas, a mile from the South Park Meadows shopping center. (When it really was a meadows in the 1970s, famous rock concerts were held there.) I estimate my sky as Bortle 6.

Last night (05 Nov 2020), I spotted the Andromeda galaxy. I have seen it before [on my blog from December 2, 2018]. Two nights before last, I found it naked eye and with my 12x50 Bushnell binoculars, but I could not find it with the widest view of my telescope--32mm ocular with ES-102mm First Light f/6.47 refractor. (The red dot LED finder is not as good as an 8x finder scope with crosshairs.) Last night went better.

I mark it as from the sharper of the two bottom points of Cassiopeia's W and about as far from that as the width of the W. So, I span the constellation with my thumb and little finger and use that to check the distance and direction to the hazy patch.

(All times are US Central Standard Time, UTC -6).
19:16 - viewed with 32 mm, 25 mm, and 17 mm (20.6, 26.4, and 38x).

19:31 - viewed with 32 mm plus 2x Barlow
19:35 - 25 mm + Barlow
19:37 - meteor falls through field
19:45 - 17 mm + Barlow

According to Burnham’s, the Andromeda Galaxy was probably known to the Persians from 900 AD. Wikipedia says that it was recorded as a stellar cloud by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi in about 964 AD. (Wikipedia: Al-Sufi and Book of Fixed Stars ) It was always a hazy patch. Although it was first sighted in a telescope in 1615, our view of it only comes from photographic imaging with the 100-inch Mount Wilson after 1923. While the big eye helped, it was more the invention and improvement of the photographic processes. Since then, it has been imaged and published often by amateurs with much smaller telescopes and much better cameras.

[Graeme1858]

Nice Andromeda session Mike.

And thanks for the history lesson too!

Regards

Graeme

[Bigzmey]

Congrats on catching it with the scope! Did you manage to see it's two satellites?

[helicon]

Nice grab. It never fails to be impressive, no matter what optics are used. I wonder if Claudius Ptolemy saw it from Egypt back in the first century A.D. I suppose I'll have to consult The Almagest.

[Shabadoo]

Awesome sight, ain’t it! Congrats!

[prowler75]

Nice report on your Andromeda observing!
I’ve got it on my target list for tonight (fingers crossed on clear skies).

[Piet Le Roux]

I coincidentally had a glance at Andromeda last night through a 10X50 binoculars and could just see a faint white blob of light at the bottom of Pegasus. I live in a city with a reasonable light index but in the southern hemisphere Andromeda is very low in the north. I will be visiting a better site, at the local observatory outside the city, on 13 November and hope to get a look at it through my 15".....if weather permits.