2024, December 19: See Andromeda Galaxy – When the Curves Line Up – The Gentleman Report | World | Business | Science | Technology

December 19, 2024: The Andromeda Galaxy is top within the southern sky as twilight ends. Earlier than first light search for the moon close to the Sickel of Leo.

2024, December 19: See Andromeda Galaxy – When the Curves Line Up Photograph Caption – The Nice Galaxy in Andromeda (Messier 31) from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Photograph Credit score: NASA/JPL/California Institute of Era)

by means of Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Dawn, 7:14 a.m. CDT; Sundown, 4:22 p.m. CST. Test native assets for first light and sundown occasions. Occasions are calculated by means of the USA Naval Observatory’s MICA laptop program.

Andromeda Galaxy

At this season on the finish of night time twilight, the Nice Andromeda Galaxy, cataloged as Messier 31 or M 31, is top within the southern sky. With vacation go back and forth going on, sky watchers could also be touring to or no less than via spaces with lowered out of doors lights then they will have at their properties. A possibility to look the galaxy is handy.

This impressive spiral galaxy may be very huge, such a lot that it spills outdoor even a decrease energy telescopic eyepiece. It’s best seen from a area with out out of doors mild with out an optical lend a hand or up shut via a binocular.

Symbol Caption – The most important NASA Hubble Area Telescope symbol ever assembled, this sweeping chicken’s-eye view of a portion of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) is the sharpest huge composite symbol ever taken of our galactic next-door neighbor. Although the galaxy is over 2 million light-years away, The Hubble Area Telescope is robust sufficient to unravel particular person stars in a 61,000-light-year-long stretch of the galaxy’s pancake-shaped disk. (NASA Photograph)

The century mark of the announcement that the Andromeda Galaxy is a separate island of stars within the universe happens at 12 months’s finish. Earlier than that, astronomers weren’t positive what the 1000’s of spiral nebulae represented – fuel clouds in spiral patterns throughout the Milky Manner or separate amalgamations of stars like our own residence galaxy.

Galactic Dimensions

Edwin Hubble discovered a unique magnificence of stars in two spiral nebula that numerous in brightness in a rhythmic development referred to as Cepheid variables.

Those stars had been discovered within the Magellanic Clouds – now referred to as the Milky Manner’s spouse galaxies visual within the southern hemisphere – by means of Henrietta Levitt early within the final century. For the reason that stars had been about the similar distance, their sessions that had been longest had the best intrinsic brightness. Levitt’s detailed monitoring of those stars, yielded the period-luminosity courting, now basic to figuring out distances to close by galaxies.

The Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31 since it is the 31st object on Messier's list of diffuse sky objects, is the nearest large galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. Our galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda. Symbol Caption – The Andromeda Galaxy, sometimes called M31 since it’s the thirty first object on Messier’s record of diffuse sky items, is the closest huge galaxy to our personal Milky Manner galaxy. Our galaxy is believed to appear just like Andromeda. (NASA photograph)

E.E. Hertsprung calibrated Levitt’s idea to those Cepheid variables – named for the prototype Delta in Cepheus – to the close by variables within the Milky Manner.

Messier 13: The globular cluster in Hercules. (Photo credit: NASA/ESA/Space Telescope Institute) Photograph Caption – Messier 13: The globular cluster in Hercules. (Photograph credit score: NASA/ESA/Area Telescope Institute)

The primary was once used to decide distances to stars within the galaxy and the ones globular clusters that revolve across the galactic middle outdoor the galactic aircraft.

Century after Announcement

Hubble discovered Cepheids in Andromeda and any other galaxy cataloged as M 33. His preliminary calculations confirmed that Andromeda was once no less than 975,000 mild years away, a ways past the recognized edges of the Milky Manner. Whilst he was once wary to announce those measurements made in 1923, Hubble was once satisfied to announce this distance at an astronomy convention that started on December 30, 1924. Subtle observations positioned it round 2.2 million mild years.

Chart Caption – 2024, December 19: The Andromeda galaxy is located top within the southern sky after the top of twilight all the way through past due autumn and early iciness.

The Andromeda galaxy will also be discovered all the way through past due autumn and early iciness top within the southern sky. Search for the Nice Sq. of Pegasus, 4 stars that make a big field. Apheratz, on the northeast nook of the sq., belongs to Andromeda, a constellation of 2 traces of stars extending from this nook.

Chart Caption – 2024, December 19: The Andromeda galaxy is impressive via a binocular.

To find Mirach, about 15° northeast (to the higher left) of Alpheratz. The galaxy is 7.7° west of that superstar. Position the superstar on the middle of the binocular box and transfer it to the higher proper. A big fuzzy glob of sunshine strikes into the sector – the Andromeda Galaxy!

Gibbous Moon, Sickle of Leo

Gibbous moon and Leo Chart Caption – 2024, December 19: The gibbous moon is close to the Sickle of Leo all the way through morning twilight.

An hour ahead of first light this morning, the gibbous moon, 81% illuminated, is over midway up within the southwest and 10.9° to the suitable of Regulus, Leo’s brightest superstar. Whilst the moon is vibrant, search for the Sickle of Leo, a backwards query mark that outlines Leo’s head. The haunches and tail, marked by means of Denebola are to the east of the sickle.