WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Astro Minute: Andromeda, Reboot

Episode Date: November 12, 2024

Few objects located outside the Milky Way Galaxy can be seen with the unaided eye--but the Andromeda Galaxy is an exception. Learn how to spot it on today's episode of Astro Minute!

Welcome to the Astro Minute, where we're exploring the universe 60 seconds at a time. I'm Lauren Smith, and today we're looking beyond our galaxy. Almost every object we see in the night sky with a naked eye lies within our own Milky Way galaxy, but there are a few extragalactic objects that are also visible to us. Nearby Andromeda galaxy is large enough that the collective light of its 400 billion stars reaches our eyes as a faint, fuzzy, oval patch. Nearby is a relative term in space, this neighbor is actually 2.5 million light years away. That's about 15 with 18 zeros behind it in miles.

To find it, look overhead on a dark night for the five brightest stars in the constellation Cassiopeia that make a W. The narrower side of the W forms an arrow which points towards a very faint blur that is the Andromeda Galaxy. Grab binoculars to see even more of this extragalactic light. That's your Astro Minute.