Observing galaxies in Andromeda 01 October 2015 22:25

Context

As you look towards Andromeda you are looking below the galactic plane under the Perseus spiral arm of our galaxy which itself is about 7,000 light years away.

There is a group of relatively local galaxies which are less than 20 million light years away. The bulk of the others are in the Perseus-Pisces supercluster wall of galaxies which runs through this constellation. It stretches from RA 3h +40 in Perseus to 23h +10 in Pegasus and is around 200 million light years away.

The constellation is well placed from late summer to late autumn.

Andromeda is a relatively rich constellation for galaxy observing. I have observed 38 galaxies in this constellation although many are faint. Relatively bright galaxies

This section covers the galaxies that were visible with direct vision in my 16 inch or smaller scopes. This list will therefore grow over time as I have not yet viewed all the galaxies in good conditions at maximum altitude in my 16 inch scope!

M31 / M 32 / M 110 MAG 3/8/8

This is the stand out group of galaxies in the sky and the constellation. These galaxies are generally the first galaxies that amateur astronomers observe first. M31 is visible to the naked eye in dark skies. All three are 2.6 million light years away.

M31 whilst bright and large is fairly bland in appearance until you start to look a bit closer. With good conditions, the dark line of a dust lane is visible. I have to say that observing two of the globular clusters of this galaxy rank up there in my most memorable observations ever. This galaxy has a brighter region which has a designation NGC 206.

M32 is very bright and I have seen it in binoculars as a very small bright blob. It is small being only 8,000 light years across.

M110 can be a challenge to see with its low surface brightness. Having said that, I have seen it easily in my 80mm binoculars when the sky was transparent.

NGC 891 M9

This is actually a tough galaxy to see due to its low surface brightness. However on a good night with the 16

By constellation Page 1 This is actually a tough galaxy to see due to its low surface brightness. However on a good night with the 16 inch it is large and extended, a really unique sight.

It is part of the NGC 1023 (Perseus) group of galaxies and is about 30 million light years away.

NGC 404 MAG 11

This galaxy is memorable to observe as it is close to the star Mirach and hence is known as Mirach’s ghost. It is a lovely circular low surface brightness glow that is visible with direct vision in my 10 inch reflector and was visible at low power with averted vision even with Mirach in the field of view.

It is about 10 million light years away and relatively isolated. It is believed to have collided with another small galaxy 900 million years ago.

NGC 529 (right of image) / NGC 536 (middle of image) MAG 12

Both of these galaxies could be seen without needing to use averted vision in the same field of view in my 6 mm eyepiece. They both looked round visually. NGC 536 had a field star embedded in its halo. I could not see NGC 531 (above 536) despite trying in my 10 inch scope.

By constellation Page 2 NGC 97 MAG 12

Although small this galaxies surface brightness allowed me to see it with direct vision in my 10 inch scope.

Other special galaxies and galaxy groups of note

I have set out below a selection of observed galaxies and galaxy groups of note in the constellation.

NGC 80 / NGC 83 GROUP MAG 12

This is a small group I have observed in Andromeda. There are two small faint circular galaxies both of which could be seen at the same time in the view of my 6 mm eyepiece using my 10 inch scope.

By constellation Page 3 NGC 68 / NGC 71 GROUP (ARP 113) MAG 12/13

I observed the two brightest galaxies of this group in my 16 inch scope both of which required averted vision.

NGC 7640 MAG 11

This is one of the more “local” galaxies in Andromeda. Its redshift indicates a distance of 17 million light years. At the eyepiece it is a lovely long but faint object which was only visible with averted vision in my 10 inch scope. It sits in a nice star field of 16 stars in my 9mm eyepiece.

By constellation Page 4 Full list of observed galaxies in Andromeda ref1 SIZE SHAPE visual_ mag Comments MLY surf_brt INSTRUMENT scale ness NGC 224 large thin 5 3.4 Very large and 2.6 13.5 Skywatcher 10 inch oval bright NGC 221 medium circular 3 8.1 Small but easy to 2.6 12.4 TAL 1 see NGC 891 large slither 1 9.9 Amazing extended 32 13.6 Meade 16 inch faint galaxy NGC 529 very circular 1 12.1 Reasonably bright 214 13.8 Skywatcher 10 inch small round galaxy. In same FOV as NGC 536. NGC 97 very circular 1 12.3 Faint circular 213 13.0 Skywatcher 10 inch small object NGC 536 very oval 1 12.4 Reasonably bright 230 13.4 Skywatcher 10 inch small round galaxy. In same FOV as NGC 529. NGC 205 large oval <0.5 8.1 Oval very faint 2.7 14.0 20 x 80B glow NGC 812 very oval <0.5 11.2 Very low sbr oval 236 12.8 Meade 16 inch small NGC 7640 medium slither <0.5 11.3 Lovely long but 17 14.5 Skywatcher 10 inch faint galaxy NGC 108 very circular <0.5 12.1 Tough small object 212 13.3 Darkstar 14 inch small NGC 80 very circular <0.5 12.1 Oval shaped 253 13.2 Skywatcher 10 inch small galaxy next to NGC 83 NGC 846 very circular <0.5 12.1 Low sbr spiral 218 13.3 Darkstar 14 inch small NGC 679 very circular <0.5 12.3 Very faint object 225 13.8 Skywatcher 10 inch small close to the limit of visibility NGC 753 very circular <0.5 12.3 Very low SBR 217 13.9 Skywatcher 10 inch small circular object NGC 687 very circular <0.5 12.3 Very small circular 228 12.9 Skywatcher 10 inch small galaxy.

By constellation Page 5 small galaxy. NGC 214 very circular <0.5 12.3 Low sbr oval 200 13.1 Darkstar 14 inch small NGC 252 very circular <0.5 12.4 Very small oval 224 12.8 Skywatcher 10 inch small faint galaxy NGC 393 very circular <0.5 12.5 Small core - hard 238 13.4 Darkstar 14 inch small to pick out NGC 528 very oval <0.5 12.5 Small AV object. 213 13.1 Meade 16 inch small Brighter than 515/517 NGC 982 very oval <0.5 12.5 Extended but very 262 12.2 Skywatcher 10 inch small faint edge on galaxy NGC 83 very circular <0.5 12.5 Very faint circular 283 13.4 Skywatcher 10 inch small galaxy next to NGC 80 NGC 818 very oval <0.5 12.5 Small oval 199 13.8 Darkstar 14 inch small NGC 43 very circular <0.5 12.6 Lovely glow next 213 13.4 Meade 16 inch small to star NGC 797 very circular <0.5 12.6 Faint circular glow 250 13.3 Meade 16 inch small NGC 160 very oval <0.5 12.6 Faint oval 236 14.3 Meade 16 inch small NGC 425 very circular <0.5 12.6 Very faint glow 288 12.4 Meade 16 inch small next to a field star NGC 183 very circular <0.5 12.7 Very small faint 236 14.1 Meade 16 inch small blob NGC 523 very thin <0.5 12.7 Low sbr faint 216 13.2 Meade 16 inch small oval galaxy NGC 551 very oval <0.5 12.7 Faint extended 218 12.9 Meade 16 inch small glow NGC 68 very circular <0.5 12.9 Brightest of a pair 259 14.2 Meade 16 inch small visible in this view NGC 513 very oval <0.5 12.9 Faint small galaxy, 265 11.1 Meade 16 inch small nearly visible with direct vision NGC 76 very circular <0.5 13.0 Tough small object 329 12.7 Meade 16 inch small to spot NGC 801 small slither <0.5 13.1 Very faint 256 13.8 Meade 16 inch extended object NGC 573 very circular <0.5 13.1 Small but relatively 77 10.9 Meade 16 inch small easy spot NGC 169 very oval <0.5 13.2 Very faint oval 201 99.9 Meade 16 inch small NGC 71 very circular <0.5 13.2 Fainter of a pair of 299 13.4 Meade 16 inch small galaxies visible NGC 653 very slither <0.5 13.4 Tough extended 0 12.1 Meade 16 inch small object NGC 620 very circular <0.5 14.0 Faint small object 99.9 Meade 16 inch small NGC 7831 very slither 12.8 Faint but visible 224 12.3 TAL 150P small with averted vision

TARGET LIST AT 9 October 2015

Source - Anonymous galaxies book

Galaxy groups Abell group 437 10th brightest is m13.3. Distance 0.2 gly .

Near ngc 891

By constellation Page 6 Near ngc 891

Includes ngc 898/906/909/910/911/912/913/914/923 and others.

By constellation Page 7 By constellation Page 8