M31 - Andromeda Galaxy

Date: 10/30/08
Time: 8:00pm-10:15pm CST
Weather: Clear with 15-20mph winds - Temp: 47 degrees (F)
Location: Port Barrington, IL

In the Constellation Andromeda, I enjoyed the vastness of M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), a spiral galaxy that looked like a glowing fuzzy oval sphere. I used a 5mm eyepiece and found that it was too much magnification and found better luck with a 10mm eyepiece. I was unable to find M110 or M32 and will attempt again on a darker night. M31 is an amazing 2.2 million light years away and is comprised of as many as 160 million stars.

I did find a fuzzy globular image within the viewfinder that was very close in relation to M31. My first conclusion was that it was M110 but it appeared too remote from M31. My next assumption was that it might be M33 yet it seemed closer than what is illustrated on my star maps. I will attempt another look to confirm or deny these notes.

I enjoyed the M103 Open Cluster in Cassiopeia about 8000 light years away and M15 (Pegasus Cluster), a Globular Cluster found between the constellations of Pegasus and Equuleus. I viewed M57, the Ringed Nebula found in Lyra near the Star of Vega. M57 is about 4100 light years away from Earth. I could just make out the inner dark center of the ring. All of these objects were viewed first using a 25mm eyepiece and then upgrading to a 10mm eyepiece. In many cases zooming in with the 5mm eyepiece was too much magnification and clearly brightness was lost when viewing the objects.

I got the full view of M45, the Pleiades Star Cluster using a 40mm eyepiece. I clearly made out 6 bright stars and two semi bright stars which were clearly the focal point of this impressive cluster. M45 is about 400 light years away.