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Andromeda Galaxy??

According to my StarCalc program, M31 is only above your horizon during the daytime this time of year. Check out StarCalc it's a cool freeware toy.
 
One of my favorite things about being in the Navy was the spectacular view of the night sky in the middle of the ocean. Since we were a military vessel, we ran with our exterior lights out. And as we were on the ocean, the night sky was a big upside down bowl. Words cannot describe how incredible it was.

When looking straight up, the number of visible stars was far greater than anything I have seen from land. And if we happened to be in phosphorescent seas, there would be these long green trails alonside the ship.

Beeeeeeauuuuutifullll!
 
Skeptoid said:
According to my StarCalc program, M31 is only above your horizon during the daytime this time of year. Check out StarCalc it's a cool freeware toy.
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Thanks for the link Skeptoid, I've been using Cartes Du Ciel. StarCalc seems both faster and more intuitive, especially for a causal user such as myself.
 
Quote from The Bad Astronomer-

"M31 is at 0 hours Right Ascension, so it's highest when the Sun is opposite the sky, at 12 hours. That happens in Septmber, so it's a spring object in Australia. That sounds right; I know it's starting to get low on the horizon here in California by sunset, and our seasons are opposite!"

[end quote]

There are several astronomical programs available that can be tailored to your location. Red Shift is the one I used to use and clearly need to reload when I get home.

A planisphere is a lot handier for back garden work over the barbie. Any science / astronomy/ telescope or good bookshop should have them- its a very low tech , plastic disc with a rotating cover that can be set to local time and shows what's visible in the sky.
M31 should be visible at best, low in the northern sky in September from where you are.
 
LukeT- One of my major regrets about drilling rigs is that they are always lit up like a Christmas Tree. It's impossible to see the night sky unless you can find a shady spot between containers. Being unable to take evasive action is occasionally a pain too. (eg in the Persian Gulf during the Iran / Iraq war when both sides shot at anything on radar.)
 
Soapy Sam said:
Follow up to the above. Remote viewing indicates AF is probably in Melbourne. Consultation with the Bad Astronomer (facts his, errors mine) suggests M31 will be at max 14 degrees above the horizon at that latitude. So possible to see , (but I suspect very hard in town).
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Hi Soapy Sam, sorry I haven't replied to you. Thanks for the info. I was sure the galaxy could be viewed from the south. I only looked briefly in my star chart book for the month of Feb. I knew it was still too light to see it here so I asked the original questions to get an idea of what it would look like when it became visible.
Thanks to everyone who gave their personal descriptions of Andromeda. I can't wait until September. (btw, I'm female);)
 
Skeptoid said:
According to my StarCalc program, M31 is only above your horizon during the daytime this time of year. Check out StarCalc it's a cool freeware toy.
Click to expand...

Hi, I'm no computer expert but how do I download 'starcalc' so I am able to use it? I have Windows ME but I'm not sure what I should do? :confused:
 
Always Free said:


Hi, I'm no computer expert but how do I download 'starcalc' so I am able to use it? I have Windows ME but I'm not sure what I should do? :confused:
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You've never downloaded software from the internet? If that's the case, please PM me and I'll be glad to walk you through it via email.
 
Always Free-
Sorry about getting your sex mixed up, my remote viewing crystal ball has cataract. The download of the full Starcalc will take at least half an hour on a broadband link. Could be a lot more on a 56K modem. (That's with all the catalogs and add-ons).

I'd check out a planisphere if I were you- cheap, effective and (mirabile dictu!) no batteries!.

I managed to find install files for Redshift and set it up for Melbourne. It shows M31 due north at about 11 degrees elevation in mid September. You will need to get away from street lights. I would advise a pair of binoculars.
BillyJoe's place sounds good, but I'd take a baseball bat if I were you.;)
 
The basic StarCalc is only 753KB. Less than 3 minutes on a 56k modem. The basic program is plenty good enough for a casual user. The only plug-in I have is the solar eclipse one. All plug-ins are individual d/ls that can be d/led when convenient, if desired.
 
Skeptoid-My time was for the whole schmoozle, add-ons and all. It's the catalogs that take the time. I assumed they were necessary and it was a quiet night at work, and it's a shame to let a perfectly good broadband link sit idle. It gets rusty. Now got the lot on the 64Mb Flashdrive. I'll try it out for interest to compare with "Redshift. "
 
Yeah, I realize that your estimate was for the whole kit and kaboodle, I just didn't want to scare anyone away from it. It really is a good program, especially for freeware.
 
Indeed it is. I loaded it on the external hard drive and fired it up. It does not have quite the same polished appearance as Redshift (and my Redshift copy is 4 years old), but Starcalc certainly does the job. I was impressed by the ability to correct for atmospheric refraction and air temperature.Nice touch. In AF's case the extra 1.5-2 degree elevation difference might be crucial.

Yes. It's a very impressive piece of kit- as you say, especially at the price.
 
Soapy Sam said:
Always Free-
You will need to get away from street lights.....BillyJoe's place sounds good, but I'd take a baseball bat if I were you.;)
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:D :D :D
 
SKEPTOID- Took the Starcalc-enabled laptop up north this week and found a very dark spot near the west coast of Scotland. I used Starcalc to find M31, which it did very nicely. I could not see it with the naked eye, (my eyesight is lousy- without my glasses I would do well to find the full moon). Spotted it with low power binocs easily enough though.

Wish I'd had software like this when I was a kid. (And a computer you could move without a crane.)
 
Soapy Sam,

Glad to hear that StarCalc worked well in the field for you. Viewing conditions here in southeast Wisconsin are very sh!tty due to light pollution from Chicago and Milwaukee. I'll definitely have to borrow a laptop for my next trip to the northwoods of Wisconsin, where the skies are really dark.
 
AF- The answer is "Not great". It surely does not resemble the wonderful spiral photograph. Basically it is a patch of faint haze, bigger than Jupiter, but very, very faint and diffuse. You don't so much see it as notice that something is there. A bit like having a smudge on the lens of your glasses. Without the binoculars I would see nothing at all. That said, younger eyes might make a big difference- though I was short sighted at thirteen.

On the same night, I saw The Pleiades, Jupiter, Saturn , Sirius (my favourite star) the Moon and had a good look at the nebula in Orion. All much more spectacular. Still, it was rather fun trying to explain to my good lady that the photons just stopped by my squinty eyes had been travelling since before Homo habilis chipped his first axe.

It was a long way to come, just to end up inside my imagination, but that's what universes are for, I suppose.
 
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