Viewing Last Night

Hi all! i was out last night with my trusty auld skylux! viewed the moon for a while! a very crisp image with some nice craters and shadows on the 'dark side' of the moon! got some up close pics with the 300d with the scope and a flimsy 1.5x telenegative lens! ill post them later on! the sky was very bright and there was even a glimpse of the milky way! anywho after the last gac meeting i had my heart set on seeing the andromeda galaxy for myself! believe it or not last night was the first time i have EVER seen! my father found it with the 10x50 s and showed me the exact position! i was thrilled! it wasnt spectacular but it was great to finally see it! ill have a crack at it tonigght with the 4.5"! also viewed was cassiopaeia which in i found a lovely cluster. the plaeides were a magnificent sight! very clear views overall!

M31 in Andromeda isn't that spectacular unless you've very dark skies...and unfortunately last night's moon washed out a lot of the sky.
When you see it in a very dark sky, you'll see that that fuzzy blob is only the bright central core, and the object is massive.... way, way, bigger than the full moon as the additional structure becomes apparent.
Try it in binoculars to get the full effect...I observed ina pair of 11 X 70s last week, and I could only get about 2/3 of the galaxy in my field of view.

Yes the moon really did wash out the sky! ill try it when its a new moon!

My first time seeing it last night too. I was quite surprised at how large it was for something 250 million light years away. My first time knowingly seeing a galaxy so it was a bit of a moment. Was using 20x50 binos.

In it's entirety M31 extends over 2 degrees of the sky...or more than four full moon widths!
Unfortunately long exposures are needed to capture it's full glory, but on those very dark nights there's enough of a hint to give you a small shock.