The Andromeda Galaxy is the most distant object you can see with the unaided eye, and the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way. It appears as an unimpressive cotton ball in the sky. If you ever see the Andromeda Galaxy with your own eyes, keep in mind what is written below--it might help put things into perspective. The Andromeda Galaxy is high overhead at 2 a.m. in late September; midnight in late October, and around 10 p.m. in late November.
Two and a half million years ago a ray of light from one of a trillion stars in a nearby galaxy began making its way toward earth. In what would become West Michigan, a young saber-toothed tiger yawned and looked to the dark sky before bedding down for the night in the long grass.
Fifty times since then, the glaciers of the ice age advanced into North America and retreated.
Ten thousand years ago, after streaming through nearly empty intergalactic space for all but ten thousand of two and a half million years, the ray of light began making its way through our own Milky Way galaxy. The mile-thick sheets of ice melted back for the last time to form the Great Lakes and our beautiful shoreline.
{Old Rays. Copyright 2024 by William Fritz.}
Seven hundred years ago, the ray of light streamed past a star we see faintly in the constellation Andromeda, a constellation of stars right in our backyard.
Western civilization progressed through the Renaissance. The Explorers explored. The Founding Fathers founded. The world's human population reached six billion.
And the ray of light is getting closer.
Any clear autumn evening, you can find the constellation Andromeda by scanning the sky high overhead after sunset when it gets dark. The shape of the constellation isn't particularly notable, sort of like a 'V' that connects by its vertex to the Great Square of Pegasus. You will see stars. Bright stars, dim stars, red stars and blue stars. But if you want to see something amazing, look more closely.
You will need to look from a dark place. The darker, the better, and you will need to first spend some time in the dark to let your eyes adapt. Then, sit quietly and look straight up and around until you see it.
What you will see is not a star; it's something that seems to be there, but that you can't quite make out. A faint fuzzy patch in the sky about half the size of the full moon. You will see it better, oddly enough, if you don't look directly at it.
You will see the Andromeda Galaxy.
The great galaxy beyond the constellation Andromeda is the closest major galaxy to our own Milky Way, and the most distant thing visible to the naked eye. Two and a half million light years distant, the Andromeda Galaxy is visible by light that left it two and a half million years ago. All other light you see at night is light from stars in our celestial neighborhood, within a thousand light years or so of Earth.
The Andromeda Galaxy is well positioned for viewing on cool, autumn nights because it is nearly directly overhead in the early evening. It is best observed on moonless nights. If you can't spot the galaxy with your eyes alone, try a pair of binoculars.
By mid December, the Andromeda Galaxy passes overhead at about 8 p.m. After that, it will be lost from view for several months as the sun glides through that part of the sky.