Whitney's Star Finder Galaxies

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FINDING TWO BRIGHT GALAXIES

The brightest galaxy (Milky Way system) outside our own is the Andromeda galaxy, known as M31. Look for it with a good pair of binoculars. Start by locating the Great Square of Pegasus (see chart below) and then go off to the east. The galaxy is marked on the chart with a dot labelled M31. It actually appears quite a bit bigger than the dot, and is a very faint glow covering a large area of the sky. When the sky is very dark and moonless you may be able to spot the galaxy with your naked eye. It contains more than 100 thousand million stars.
M33 is another of the brightest galaxies.

This chart shows the sky looking southward from the Northern Hemisphere on a summer or fall evening. Two galaxies, M31 and M33, are indicated on this chart. M31 is far easier than M33, but I have included M33 in the chart above, as it is among the brightest galaxies in the sky, and it happens to be in the same part of the sky as M31. But it will be more difficult than M31.

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