How to find North (and the Andromeda galaxy)

[Chance]

To find the Andromeda galaxy (without a fancy iPhone app or a star-finding telescope), try these shed-bodged signposts:
- Drive North from Ursa Major to Polaris.
- From Polaris, drive via Cassiopeia to the square of Pegasus.
- Follow the northern branch of Pegasus to the second junction, and turn right.
- If you can see a more blurry patch than usual, you have arrived at your destination: the Andromeda galaxy.

Instructions:

Planet-finder:

Links (because I'm not sure how downloading images will work):
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shedbodger/Shedbodgery#5509313130795838482
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shedbodger/Shedbodgery#5509313126065578322

 

[durulz]

Do you have a postcode for that so I can do it with satnav?

 

[sapper1]

ALL WELL AND GOOD IF YOU START AT URSA MAJOR,but I don't live there.

 

[Nagual]

Isn't finding north easier than that? I just face south and then my backs facing north..

 

[Shewie]

From the Plough (or Big Dipper) follow the two stars upwards from the pan edge, at a distance of five times that length should be the Pole star.

 

[Chance]

Do you have a postcode for that so I can do it with satnav?

Clever answer: RA 0.54h D 38.54°.

Clever Richard answer: take a thermos, as it can get quite chilly (and sunglasses, as it can paradoxically get quite warm as well, in direct sunlight).

Considered answer: I hope that the 'clever' answer proves the worth of the coloured lines (the pointer stars). I had to look up the coordinates for Andromeda on the Internet; and even then, I'm not terribly sure how to use them practically.
I hope that the map makes it slightly easier to navigate by using familiar landmarks; even if Ursa Major isn't in your neighbourhood.

 

[Chance]

From the Plough (or Big Dipper) follow the two stars upwards from the pan edge, at a distance of five times that length should be the Pole star.

If anyone...
a) is interested
b) manages to download the images from Picasa (I've tried, I think that it should work)
... the 'instructions' have similar advice. They also give planet-finding hints.

If you are naturally South-facing, the advice is superfluous.

 

[trekkingnut]

finding north with the stars is much much easier than that...

pole star is at the tip of ursa minor, if you cant find that use ursa major (frying pan shaped thingy) Cassiopeia, top V points towards ursa minor. orion, two left most stars straight line point towards ursa minor as well.

 

[Bigfoot]

I always just turn right at the lights and then look up

 

[Gweedo]

The Andromeda galaxy is generally acknowledged to be the most distant object that you can see with the naked eye. It's 2 and a half MILLION light years away from us. That means that the image that you're seeing what it looked like 2 1/2 million years ago, or to put it into context, the light from Andromeda started on it's journey towards us just when the genus Homo appeared on the earth. In effect, you're witnessing real time travel.

Andromeda is a galaxy just like our own milky way. That means it contains billions of stars, all rotating around a common centre. Off these billions of stars, many thousands of millions will be much like our own, and as recent discoveries intimate, many of these will have their own solar systems, and possibly; life.

And, no doubt, on these planets there will be arguments about who's better; Ray or Bear, what's the best way of sharpening blades etc etc!

For the best view of the galaxy, have a look at it through binos (try the averted eye technique so that the brightness is amplified), and try to get your head around what you're actually seeing.

 

[Chance]

For the best view of the galaxy, have a look at it through binos (try the averted eye technique so that the brightness is amplified), and try to get your head around what you're actually seeing.

When looking at a planet, the moment that your mind's eye changes the image from a disc to a sphere is similarly awe-inspiring. It's at times like this that comparisons such as 'the atmosphere is no thicker than the varnish on a globe' start to make sense. We really are affa wee.

 

[Extreme Pilgrim]

The Collins Gem, Stars book would be a good aid for field use and any cost a few pounds from Amazon UK. If you have an iPhone, there are a good number App's both free and or for a few pounds which are useful for finding your way around the night sky.

 

[Chance]

Being iPhone-less, I sketched this up to supplement the likes of Collins.
It highlights some of the easier-to-spot constellations, and collates various pointer lines between them.
The route to Andromeda is an illustration of how I use it.

 

[Chance]

The route to Andromeda is an illustration of how I use it.

Flogging that winged horse, an illustrative zoom: green-to-red-to-yellow.

 

[Chance]

Looking at the line pointing left marked 80°-70°-60°-50°-40°-30°-20°, Jupiter is roughly where you'd find 0° if I'd cropped the image a little less severely.

Banding and four of the moons should be visible through binoculars. It's a time in the orbits of the planets when it's particularly good for viewing this gas giant: the last time was in the sixties.