Three Dozen New Galaxies Are Found in Nearby Space

NY Times ^ | December 22, 2004 | DENNIS OVERBYE

[RadioAstronomer]

I might be wrong but I have read that the great galaxy in Andromeda can be visible to the naked eye under ideal conditions. Ditto for another in Triangulum although it is much fainter.

Indeed. But the question was for stars. Any individual star is ver close on a cosmic scale. Heck, the Andromeda galaxy is close by cosmic standards.

[RadioAstronomer]

A single sun larger then the orbit of jupiter? I have never heard of that but I LUV it.

Here is a chart on the stellar sequence. :-)

http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Stars/hrdiagram.html

[Spandau]

Yes, you can see M31 with the naked eye. I have seen it myself this way when I lived in the desert. From my backyard in the big city, I can find it with binoculars.

A few people have claimed to observe galaxy M33 (Triangulum) unaided. It's close enough to us that its angle of size in the sky is greater than that of the moon, but it's surface brightness is very low. I have never been able to find M33 with binoculars.

About 4 people say they have observed galaxy M81 unaided, which is 12 million light years distant. If this is true, the conditions would have to be extraordinary, and there are probably only a handful of people on Earth who's vision is that sharp.

[xp38]

Ok....but are you not at least technically observing stars when one views M31? Also what about the Magellanic clouds? I have always thought of them as satellites of our own Milky Way Galaxy but around the time of the 1987 Super Nova I read they were considered separate from the Milky Way.

M31 for your pleasure

[starfish923]

Is GOD cool or WHAT ?

He is MAJOR cool. UNbelievable.
All we can do is sit back and admire in awe and wonder.
His Son's birthday is all the more wonder to celebrate His coming to us...mere "us."

[johnmilken]

"I alway wondered why they call it the Milky Way."

Seriously? OK, but some more sensitive souls might want to look away.

A goddess was breast-feeding her child, pulled the child away from her breast and the milk shot out and made the stars.

Think about that next time you treat someone to a candy bar.

[RightWhale]

the great galaxy in Andromeda can be visible to the naked eye under ideal conditions

I first saw M31 when I was a teen. I have been watching it ever since, mostly in amazement that it is still visible even when stars dimmer than mag 4 are lost in the light pollution.

[sevry]

M81 unaided, which is 12 million light years distant.

Which means you're looking at 12 million year old data. It might be obsolete. But then - what would that mean?

[clyde asbury]

Norway - now there's some nice work.

[Alamo-Girl]

I trust you had a Merry Christmas! Here's wishing you a Happy New Year! And thank you for the ping to the article.