This week, try spotting the furthest thing you can see with the unaided eye. The Andromeda galaxy is a collection of a trillion stars lying 2.5m light years distant. Also known as M31, it is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way. Once you have located this admittedly faint object, you can marvel at the fact that the light entering your eye set out on its journey 2.5m years ago – before modern humans evolved.
To begin your quest, find the four stars that make up the body of Pegasus. Then hop along two stars of Andromeda to Mirach. Turn through 90° and hop along two fainter stars. Then concentrate.
Once your eyes have adjusted to the dark, which could take about 40 minutes, you should see a faint fuzzy patch of light just above the second of these fainter stars. That’s the Andromeda galaxy. The chart shows the view this week looking almost overhead in the eastern sky.
