Aiming for Andromeda

When we peer into the dark night sky, the vast majority of objects that we can see without binoculars or telescopes are stars in the nearby neighborhood of our Milky Way Galaxy. Depending on the sharpness of our eyesight and if our eyes have had a chance to adjust to the darkness, we may be able to see some 4,000 stars—only a very few of which are planets and various nebula. Though our galaxy contains something on the order of 100-400 billion stars, we can see but the tiniest fraction of the closest ones, by naked eye. There are maybe 100-200 billion galaxies—which reside so far away that only the most powerful telescopes can see them. (Note that there is quite a range of estimates of the number of stars and galaxies; it is not easy to approximate these quantities.)

Yet there is one galaxy—just one—that we can see with the naked eye: Andromeda Galaxy; the closest one to ours. Andromeda appears quite large in the winter sky—about the size of 5-6 full moons laid side by side. That sounds pretty spectacular—and it is—but most of us will never get the chance to spot this galaxy. Why? For two reasons: (1) you'll never find this faint object if you are looking for it anywhere near the bright lights of a city, and (2) it is extremely faint; even on a dark country night you need to know exactly where to look, but still can easily miss it.

I have struggled for years to spot this sister galaxy of ours. I know exactly where to look and I wait until my eyes have adjusted to the dark... but no luck so far. It's frustrating, because I feel certain that I once saw Andromeda about three decades ago. It was spectacular! It was unlike any other sight in the night sky. I did not know precisely where to look at the time, so I put down my discovery that night to being blessed with great fortune. The vision has remained like a photograph in my mind, which I've conjured up from time to time.

So why have I failed to view Andromeda gain, after all these years? I do know just where to look, but no luck so far. I can come up with three possible explanations: (1) my aging eyes are not as sharp as they were a few decades ago, (2) even though we live in a very rural area, light pollution has relentlessly increased since then, or (3) just maybe I was imagining I once saw Andromeda.

Then, the other night, as I sat in the outdoor tub, intently looking at the place where the galaxy should be, I thought I saw a faint smudge... very faint. It wasn't at all spectacular—just a wan, fuzzy blob; nothing like what I observed decades ago. Is this all that my weakening eyes can now see, or was I maybe once again just imagining I could see it?