M31

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Abstract

ve in and to appreciate it.When I was in high school, after much pleading, my folks bought me a 6" Newtonian reflecting telescope. One of the first objects I viewed after Saturn with its majestic rings, of course, was the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) shown above.At 2.5 million light years from the earth, Andromeda is our largest neighbor galaxy and belongs to the same group of galaxies as our own Milky Way. It contains more than one trillion stars and it takes light over 220,000 years to go from one end of it to the other.Our lifespan is nothing compared to such immense magnitudes. The tiny globe we call earth is hardly a speck by comparison. Staring into space humbles me.My amateur astronomer friend who died last month reminded me of M31 with his beautiful astrophotographs of that galaxy. His photographs took me back to my backyard telescope and thos

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e crisp fall and spring nights when I’d set the telescope up, align it with the North Star, and sometimes work for hours to find and view mysterious celestial objects like M31.When I think of the fact that light from that galaxy left some 2.5 million years ago, my mind goes numb. To think that when we peer into the night sky, we are looking back in time. What we see is not what is there now, but what WAS there thousands or millions or billions of years ago!And now, as I take my 4:30 Gratitude Pause for today, I say a word of thanks for M31 and the memories I have of seeing it “live” when I was a kid.Happy Reading, Writing, Connecting, and Appreciating the Universe, my friends.If you ever get the opportunity to peer through a telescope at the night sky, I hope you’ll take it. There’s some awesome stuff up there.</article></body>

The Andromeda Galaxy

Today I want to say thank you to the universe — the physical universe — the one we can see.

Yesterday I bought a tear-off Astronomy calendar to remind me to do just that — say thank you for all that is out there.

When I tore off the last page to reveal today’s photo, I was pleasantly surprised to see a picture of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).

I bought the calendar to remind myself to be grateful for the beautiful universe God made for us to live in and to appreciate it.

When I was in high school, after much pleading, my folks bought me a 6" Newtonian reflecting telescope. One of the first objects I viewed after Saturn with its majestic rings, of course, was the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) shown above.

At 2.5 million light years from the earth, Andromeda is our largest neighbor galaxy and belongs to the same group of galaxies as our own Milky Way. It contains more than one trillion stars and it takes light over 220,000 years to go from one end of it to the other.

Our lifespan is nothing compared to such immense magnitudes. The tiny globe we call earth is hardly a speck by comparison. Staring into space humbles me.

My amateur astronomer friend who died last month reminded me of M31 with his beautiful astrophotographs of that galaxy. His photographs took me back to my backyard telescope and those crisp fall and spring nights when I’d set the telescope up, align it with the North Star, and sometimes work for hours to find and view mysterious celestial objects like M31.

When I think of the fact that light from that galaxy left some 2.5 million years ago, my mind goes numb. To think that when we peer into the night sky, we are looking back in time. What we see is not what is there now, but what WAS there thousands or millions or billions of years ago!

And now, as I take my 4:30 Gratitude Pause for today, I say a word of thanks for M31 and the memories I have of seeing it “live” when I was a kid.

Happy Reading, Writing, Connecting, and Appreciating the Universe, my friends.

If you ever get the opportunity to peer through a telescope at the night sky, I hope you’ll take it. There’s some awesome stuff up there.