Andromeda

The Chained Princess

An autumn constellation of two long lines of stars, home to the Andromeda Galaxy, the farthest object most people can see with the naked eye.

Chart drawn as the sky looks when you face the constellation: north is up and east is to the left. Dot size shows brightness, and color hints at temperature. The connecting lines are one common stick figure; other traditions draw them differently.

Best season: Autumn
Best months: September through January, high in the northeast to overhead on autumn evenings
Visibility: Visible from everywhere in the United States
Abbreviation: And

How to find it

Start at Alpheratz, the corner of the Great Square of Pegasus that points toward Cassiopeia.
Two long lines of stars extend from there. Follow the line through Mirach, then hop up two stars to find the faint oval smudge of the Andromeda Galaxy.

Brightest stars

Alpheratz (shared with the Great Square of Pegasus)
Mirach
Almach (a gold-and-blue double star)

What to look for

The Andromeda Galaxy as a faint oval patch in a dark sky. It is easiest to see with a slightly averted glance.
Almach, a golden star with a blue companion in a small telescope.

Binocular and telescope targets

Andromeda Galaxy (M31): a huge spiral galaxy about 2.5 million light-years away, visible to the naked eye from a dark site
M32 and M110: two small companion galaxies, visible in a telescope
Almach: a gold-and-blue double star, a showpiece for small telescopes

Using it to find other things

Alpheratz joins Andromeda to Pegasus. Cassiopeia is just to the north.

About this constellation

The Andromeda Galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars, and it is so far away that its light left roughly 2.5 million years ago. In a dark sky it shows as a faint, elongated patch.

Binoculars help a great deal. They show the oval shape and its brighter core, and make the galaxy easier to find.

Related guides

Visibility depends on your latitude, the date, and the time of night. The months above assume a typical evening from the contiguous United States, so use a planetarium app to confirm what is up tonight. Never look at the Sun through binoculars or a telescope without a proper solar filter.

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