How far can you see? The Andromeda galaxy, also known as M31, is one of the nearest galaxies to our own Milky Way, yet it is the farthest object you can see without a telescope.
Even though the Andromeda galaxy is considerably larger than the Milky Way, the two galaxies share many common features. Both have a clearly recognisable spiral structure and various attendant dwarf galaxies associated with them.
It was first recorded over 1,000 years ago by Persian astronomer Abdal-Rahman Al-Sufi, who had described it in AD964. Undoubtedly, it was known to astronomers for many years before this. Hundreds of years later, in 1887, Isaac Roberts managed to photograph it from his Sussex observatory, and for the first time the spiral structure was clearly seen.
Nowadays, measurements place the Andromeda galaxy at 2.54 million light years away – meaning that light travelling from this galaxy to the earth takes over two-and-a-half million years to arrive – and M31 is one of the closest galaxies to earth. Recent observations indicate that the Andromeda galaxy contains at least twice the amount of stars as the Milky Way galaxy. The two galaxies are on a collision course that will result in the formation of a giant galaxy when they eventually collide in four billion years’ time.
The Andromeda galaxy is best placed for viewing this month and through all autumn. To the naked eye it looks like a fuzzy patch of light, though through binoculars it takes on its oval shape. Look for it almost in the centre of the constellation of Andromeda and northeast of the famous Great Square of Pegasus.
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