2006-11-01 08:42:28 · 5 answers · asked by Rock Lee 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
You actually want to know how much aperture a telescope needs to see another galaxy, not power. You see, not all galaxies are so far away that they're tiny and need to be significantly magnified, but galaxies are very far away and so from Earth they're very dim. The more aperture a telescope has, that is, the larger the diameter of their primary mirror or lens, the more light they can collect and the brighter images appear. After they have been brightened in a big enough telescope, it's typically best to just magnify them a little with a low powered eyepeice.
To answer your question, some galaxies, like the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). M81, and sometimes M33 are bright enough to see with the naked eye on very dark nights, provided you have very good vision.
After that, the larger the aperture of the telescope you are using, the more galaxies you will be able to see. Because of this, most people who focus on deep space observing try to get the biggest telescope they can. To get super live views of most galaxies you should preferably not have anything smaller than 9.25" in aperture but you can see quite a bit with a telescope that's 8" in aperture, and you can even see quite a few galaxies with a telescope that's 4.5" in aperture but they'll typically look like small fuzzy wisps in that one.
2006-11-01 15:56:41 · answer #1 · answered by minuteblue 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you drive out into the country far from any lights, you can see the Andromeda Galaxy with your eyes. You can see it better with binoculars. You can see it even better with a good quality telescope.
However, we are so far away from Andromeda (and all other known galaxies) that we would need to construct a telescope just about the size of our own galaxy to see any detail within Andromeda or any other galaxy.
2006-11-01 17:12:28 · answer #2 · answered by Otis F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can see M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, with the naked eye, and a number of others with hand-held binoculars. To see much detail, such as spiral arms, takes at least 12 inches of aperture, with 18" or more being popular with galaxy observers.
2006-11-01 16:50:49 · answer #3 · answered by injanier 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can see Andromeda with binoculars or with the naked eye on a dark night. It looks light a light smudge. To see it clearly you would need a powerful one.
2006-11-01 16:46:52 · answer #4 · answered by entropy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can see Andromeda with the naked eye, although you need to be in a place far from light polution.
2006-11-01 16:45:16 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋