On this day in space! Dec. 15, 1612: Andromeda galaxy spotted by telescope for the 1st time


On Dec. 15, 1612, the Andromeda galaxy was seen through a telescope for the first time by a German astronomer named Simon Marius. 

The Andromeda galaxy (also known as M31) is the closest major galaxy to our own Milky Way, and it can be seen with the naked eye. Early astronomers thought it was a nebula, or a glowing cloud of space dust.

 This image of the Andromeda galaxy was taken on Jan. 13, 2001, with the WIYN/KPNO 0.9-meter Mosaic I by T. Rector and B. Wolpa of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. (Image credit: NASA/STScI/Travis A. Rector (NOAO, AURA, NSF), B. A. Wolpa (NOAO, AURA, NSF))
Related Stories:

— Andromeda Galaxy Photos: Amazing Pictures of M31

— Milky Way Galaxy’s Head-On Crash with Andromeda | A Gallery

— When Galaxies Collide: Photos of Great Galactic Crashes

Even after Simon Marius saw it through a telescope for the first time, he still couldn’t tell that it was actually a galaxy filled with about a trillion stars. 

It took another 300 years before Edwin Hubble came along and figured out that it was a galaxy.


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