Lately, however, in my quest to become ever-more familiar with the constellations, I've been searching beyond the stars for galaxies, nebulae, and other cosmic lights. This past week, while house sitting in the relative countryside of Taos, I set out to search for the Andromeda Galaxy, a spiral similar to the Milky Way. With a pair of binoculars in hand, I located the corner star of the Great Square of Pegasus, Alpheratz, that connected the constellation with Andromeda, and followed a line of stars towards Cassiopeia.
I eye-balled the location where I suspected the galaxy to be and brought the binoculars in line with my eyes. And there it was, a large blurry glow, spiraling beside the stars of Andromeda's V. An entire galaxy in the night sky!
There are many more to search for and many more to be seen. But it simply amazes me to look into the sky and recognize that we can see, from our own little planet, beyond the reaches of our own galaxy.
