Reply #8: Cool

[pokerfan]

Astronomy is one of my passions.

Everyone should know how to find the Andromeda galaxy which, at a distance of 2.5 million light-years, is one of the most distant naked-eye objects. And fall is a great time to see it:





First find the Great Square of Pegasus, then use the star chart to "sky hop" to Andromeda.

It appears small without a telescope because only the central part is bright enough to be visible, but the full angular diameter of the galaxy is seven times that of the full moon!

Recent observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope revealed that M31 contains over one trillion (10¹²) stars, greatly exceeding the number of stars in our own galaxy. To help comprehend such a large number, try to imagine the size of last week's Wall Street bailout.