The Night Sky
September 2021
The Andromeda Galaxy
This month we are hunting down one of the only objects we can see unaided in the night sky beyond our own galaxy. Looking east towards Low Lane / Bolton Abbey from Embsay, half-way up in the night sky, you will see four stars making the shape of a square-type diamond, as it is tilted at an angle at this time in the year. To the left and slightly higher is the familiar ‘W’ shape of Cassiopeia. Between these two shapes on a dark night you will make out a faint ‘blob’ with your naked eye. This is the most distant object you can see without a telescope. The light from it has taken 2.5 million years to arrive into your eyes. As the light set out ‘we’ were making stone tools to catch our food and lived in caves. As the light beams journeyed unobstructed over this vast distance we have evolved into what we are today. The four stars making the square/ diamond shape form the Great Square of Pegasus and ‘the blob’ is the Andromeda Galaxy, a galaxy like our own, but bigger, made from a spiral of a trillion stars!
Looking east at 10pm on the 7th September.
When we look at this spot we are looking beyond our own galaxy, all that is familiar, beyond the stars and constellations with which we are familiar that are made up from our own galaxy, the Milky Way. In time Andromeda and the Milky Way will merge and this is currently estimated to be about 10 billion years from now.
To get the best view it is important that your eyes are dark-adapted. So try not to look at anything bright especially bright torchlight or your mobile phone for 15 minutes. If you have binoculars you will have a better experience. As your eyes get used to the darkness you will see more of the galaxy.
In a small telescope the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) looks like a bright oval. In a larger telescope it looks rather magnificent! (see below)
In this picture you can see stars, dust and gas mingling in a spiral shape. Two other galaxies are also visible called M32 and M110.
Follow the link below to find out more about Andromeda. It is believed now that there are massive black holes that exist at the centre of most galaxies and research has shown that Andromeda has a possible 26!
Other things to look out for this month are Jupiter and Saturn low in the south-east mid-month around 8pm.
Clear Skies
Milan Davidovic
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