finding andrometa

[landroverthomas]

G, day everyone,
When can I see andrometa from
Brisbane, or 2 hours south of Brisbane. Cheers and clear sky's to you all.

[Kunama]

Probably around mid June in the morning sky (just before sunrise in the NE) till end of November in the evening sky?

[RobF]

Yep, and make sure you have nice dark skies. Binocs probably best way to start looking, although just visible to naked eye. Visible in binocs as a slightly off vertical oblong smear, brighter in the centre (when rising in the NNE part of the sky to meridian).

[astroron]

As the others have said, a good pair of Binoculars and also a chart to find where it is in the sky.
BTW it is "Andromeda"
Just a friendly correction.
Welcome:welcome: to iceinspace. :)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup:Andromeda is best viewed mid October from Australia just after dark if you look north and slowly sets north/west about midnight , it gets to about 15-20 degrees above the northern horizon at its highest from Brisbane about 9pm , its just below ( north ) of Pegasus's tail .

Oh yes :welcome: to IIS .

Brian.

[MattT]

Have managed to see it with a 4" refractor from Melbourne in early December.
Not much to write about, an orange 'star' with a faint wispy bit around it....it is less than 10º above the horizon down here and had to contend with the roof of my house a short time after sunset and my the roof is tin....but I have seen it :thumbsup:

Brissy should be a better view.

Matt

[skysurfer]

That orange star is Mirach (Beta Andromedae) with the NGC 404 close to it. The M31 slightly further north but will be when in upper culmination 90-38-40 = 12 degrees high.

-40 is the declination of M31, 38 the latitude of MEL using the max. alt above North = 90-latitude + declination rule.

In BNE (27 S) it is 90-27-40 = at most 23º above the horizon, which allows viewing details with a telescope as small as 10cm as long you avoid the light soup of BNE (or, worse, Gold Coast).

But you have to wait until late winter / spring as by then it will be visible in the morning sky.

[MattT]

The orange star was in fact M31...I was star hopping with skysafari, a great tool to have.

[BeanerSA]

wtf?!

[astroron]

I have never heard of anyone confusing the Andromeda galaxy with an Orange star.:shrug:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[MattT]

Looking through all that atmosphere about 10 degrees above the horizon in Summer with a 4" Refractor, that is what M31 looks like....a big orange star that obviously isn't a star but looks like one at quick glance....further scrunity shows a faint bit of fuzz that is Galaxy viewing from a city :D :(

Edit: eyepiece was a 40mm 68 degree.

[raymo]

Matt, the orange star definitely was not M31. M31 is a long smear[as RobF
described it] which is around 3 to 5 times the apparent diameter of the moon
[ depending upon what you are using to view it ].
raymo

[RobF]

Yep. Like this, only fainter:
https://picasaweb.google.com/UserRobF/Widefield#slideshow/5728588870000376530

[Renato1]

You'll need a finder chart.
And from that you need to spot the Square of Pegasus (it does look like a square). Andromeda galaxy is below the bottom right-hand side star of the square - but you need a chart to star hop from that star to the galaxy.
Regards,
Renato

[ausastronomer]

Me either Ron. Double the size of the full moon on its short axis and over 6 times the size of the full moon on its long axis.

Cheers
John B

[ausastronomer]

If the sky conditions are 1/2 decent its a pretty easy naked eye target and very difficult to miss. If it's not visible naked eye the conditions are pretty poor and you would be better spending your time on targets other than galaxies.

Cheers
John B

[landroverthomas]

Thanks for the replies and kind welcomes. I have just purchase a pair of mini giants15x65, and have had a great time seeing Europa, Ganymede and Io. Have been trying to spot a galaxy apart from our own. The moon has not helped. This is why I was hoping to see andrometa. What are some suitable galaxys to be seen through the binoculars. Thanks again and clear sky's to you all.

[skysurfer]

This is probably the best time of the year. The autumn sky has lots of galaxies. Virgo, Coma Berenice, and a rather bright one is M83 in Centaurus.

[VS6000]

In hobart when is it at it's highest? Its hard to tell from sky safari, but looks like it just gets there in winter?

[AstralTraveller]

If you want to see galaxies in binos try the LMC and SMC!

[Tinderboxsky]

Hi Tim,
Andromeda is observable from Hobart, but don't expect any detail, just a faint haze with some brightening at the centre. I've not tried finding Andromeda in the morning sky in Hobart, rather I chase a sighting each November in the evening. I have a separate Thread "Andromeda from Hobart".
From memory Andromeda is at almost 5 deg elevation at culmination so you need to chose an observing place carefully. To quote from my 2015 post:
"A clear night last night with no cloud on the northern horizon gave me my best chance so far this year to track down and catch a glimpse of Andromeda.
It was an easy find this year compared to earlier years. All I could see was a broad hazy patch with obvious brightening towards the centre. There was no sign of structure nor any evidence of m31 or m110.
I am not chasing Andromeda for the views, rather the challenge of being able to see it from Hobart. It is a matter of patience waiting for the right conditions given Andromeda is so low on the northern horizon. I live well south of Hobart so I have to look through the Hobart light pollution. On the plus side I have a virtually unrestricted northerly horizon down to about 2 degrees elevation with these low hills blocking the majority of the direct line of sight lights of Hobart.
Observation with 140mm refractor at 67X and 2.1mm exit pupil."

Cheers
Steve

[SkyWatch]

I think Andromeda would be a disappointment from Hobart, but if you want to look at nice galaxies in your binos, why not look the other way at the Magellanic Clouds? They completely blow Andromeda out of the water, are very visible naked eye if you get away from the city lights, and binos give you great detail...

- Dean

[VS6000]

Thanks Steve! I normally drive to somewhere in the south west, or around Kempton way to do my astrophotography, lovely and dark.
Sounds like I'll give November a shot, I just want to see it for myself really!
Have just about done all the easy galaxy/nebula so looking for more within my range :)
Thanks again!