The andromeda galaxy in November

[ManOnTheMoon (Matt)]

I live in Qld and ive been checking out the Andromeda Galaxy the last few nights. Its currently dead north and fairly high in the sky around 9pm. All I see through my bino's though is a very bright center and a light beam stretching out either side of that but I cant really see and arms?

[Liz]

Hi Matt .... the core of Andromeda galaxy is very bright and easy to see, even with the naked eye, but the arms a much dimmer. I dont think you would have much luck in bins, even in my 10" Dob, the core overwhelmes the image.
Were you able to spot M32 ajoining M31 - it is quite bright in my Dob, so should be easy in bins.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by ManOnTheMoon

I live in Qld and ive been checking out the Andromeda Galaxy the last few nights. Its currently dead north and fairly high in the sky around 9pm. All I see through my bino's though is a very bright center and a light beam stretching out either side of that but I cant really see and arms?

Matt you will not see any detail of M 31 in Bino's except for what you describe,M31 does not show spiral arms as such in nearly any telescope because of it's angle to us .
Have a look at an image of M31 and you will see it does not show spiral arms.
You will need a dark sky and a about a 6" telescope s to see any detail
Cheers

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

matt this M31 drawing by Sue French
is pretty much as you will see it with bino's

[WestAusChris (Chris)]

Wow if thats what you can see with bino's Rob i really need to make that one of my targets for my 6" dob to see what it will look like

[Rob_K]

Originally Posted by WestAusChris

Wow if thats what you can see with bino's Rob i really need to make that one of my targets for my 6" dob to see what it will look like

Chris, it's one of those objects that will look better through a good pair of binocs than a 6" dob. It's huge, and even with a wider field eyepiece you still won't get all of it in the field. You'll pretty much only see the bright core and a little of the extension. The fainter low contrast extensions will be lost in the field.

Cheers -

[that_guy (Tony)]

haha.. had a look through rons 16" dob... with the wide field lens couldnt get it all in... but with his 55mm i think it was... it fit in quite nicely with 2 extra galaxies

[Liz]

Originally Posted by that_guy

haha.. had a look through rons 16" dob... with the wide field lens couldnt get it all in... but with his 55mm i think it was... it fit in quite nicely with 2 extra galaxies

Ooh, that would have been very nice indeed.
I can just squeeze them in (with a push) in my 10" Dob with a 19mm Panoptic, sweet.

[that_guy (Tony)]

It was some sight liz... especially at a dark site

[Rob_K]

Originally Posted by that_guy

haha.. had a look through rons 16" dob... with the wide field lens couldnt get it all in... but with his 55mm i think it was... it fit in quite nicely with 2 extra galaxies

Wow, that would look really nice in a 16"! But you'd still be missing half of M31 - it's about 3.2 degrees long, and assuming it's a 50 deg apparent FOV eyepiece (like the 2" Televue 55mm), then you're only getting 1.6 deg true FOV in a 16" f4.5 scope like Ron's. But the view would be fantastic with the bright core & the other two galaxies! Wish M31 was higher in my skies!

Cheers -

[Suzy]

I'm with Tony. I saw this for the first time along with Tony & Shelley at Astro Ron's. Through my 10" dob and my Vixen LVW 22mm, It is a sight I will never ever forget. I Managed to get it all in, just had to move a wee bit to get the third galaxy.

Chris, I used to have a 6" dob. As far as galaxies go, a dark site will produce good results for galaxies. It's like adding an extra 2" of apperture. I could never find them in the suburbs (maybe you might have better luck, but they'll be quite feint). Can't comment on Andromeda thru the 6" as it never saw it due to blocked views. But a dark site is where you need to be. Use the 25mm eyepiece for it, that comes with the scope.

[Jen]

Originally Posted by GrampianStars

matt this M31 drawing by Sue French
is pretty much as you will see it with bino's

wow they must be bloody good binos through my six inch dosnt look that good LOL