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October - the autumn skies
By ‘Star-Gazer’
Evening skies now have very much an autumn feel with darkness falling
as early as 8 pm after mid-month. Summer’s bright constellations are now
visible only in the western sky, but the southern part of the sky is dominated
by the great square of Pegasus during October and November. On star maps
Pegasus the Flying Horse looks quite conspicuous since its four main stars
make up an obvious square but they are not bright and therefore not as conspicuous
as you might think. However, once located it is easy to locate again although
initially a star map would be beneficial. It is interesting to count the
number of faint stars that are visible inside the square without optical
aid. It is a good indicator of sky transparency and anyone getting to about
12 will be doing rather well.Running away from the north east corner (top left) of Pegasus is the constellation of Andromeda. Count up two stars until reaching Beta and then turn right approximately 90º and count up two more faint stars. Then look just right of the second star and on a clear moonless night you should just spot a dim fuzzy patch of light which is the famous Andromeda galaxy. Try with binoculars and it should become apparent. This galaxy is about 2.2 million light years away and is the most remote object which can be seen with the naked eye. Light years are the way astronomers measure vast distances in space and as one light year is equal to about 5.8 million million miles I’ll leave you to do the calculation!