Andromeda - Daughter of Cassiopeia

Learn about the constellation Andromeda - Daughter of Cassiopeia, location, facts, mythology, meteor showers and deep space objects.

Andromeda is a constellation named for the princess Andromeda, which is Greek for Ruler over men.

Location: Northern Autumn 1h RA 40° Dec

If fainter stars, visible to the naked eye, in the constellation, are considered, then the constellation takes the form of a female stick figure, with a prominent belt (as has the constellation Orion), where one arm has something long attached to it, giving the appearance of a female warrior holding a sword.

Andromeda Mythology

In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Ethiopia. She was chained to a rock and exposed to the Sea Monster, Cetus, as punishment for her mother's boast of beauty superior to that of the Nereids. Perseus, on his way back from his expedition against the Gorgon, saw her and fell in love with her and promised Cepheus he would free her if she could become his wife. Cepheus agreed and, with the aid of his miraculous weapons, Perseus killed the monster and married Andromeda.

Andromeda Deep Space Objects

Andromeda is home to one of the most famous objects in the night sky, M31 (The Andromeda Galaxy). M31 is the most distant visible with the naked eye on a clear night. Seen through a telescope the galaxy appears as a small elongated patch of light, with a diameter of over four degrees.

Two more satellite galaxies lie nearby. The brightest of these is 9th-magnitude M32, located some 0.5 degrees south of M31. The other satellite is NGC 205, one-degree northwest of M31.

NGC 7662, The Blue Snowball Nebula, is an easy planetary nebula for small telescopes. It is located one degree west of the 4h-magnitude star Kappa Andromedae. At low power, it appears as a nearly stellar object of magnitude 8.5. At high magnification the nebula's blue disk becomes obvious, this object is a must-see for all amateur astronomers!

In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.

#		Common Name	Constellation	Month	Coords	Direction	Mag	Size (arcmin)	Type	Star Chart
C22 NGC 7662		Blue Snowball Nebula	Andromeda	Oct	23h 25.9m RA +42° 33m Dec	Z	9.00	32x28	Planetary Nebula	🔍︎
C23 NGC 891		The Silver Sliver Galaxy	Andromeda	Oct	02h 22.6m RA +42° 21m Dec	Z	10.00	13.5x2.5	Spiral Galaxy	🔍︎
C28 NGC 752			Andromeda	Nov	01h 57.8m RA +37° 41m Dec	Z	5.70	75	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M31 NGC 224		The Andromeda Galaxy	Andromeda	Nov	00h 42.7m RA 41° 16m Dec	SW	3.34	190x60	Galaxy	🔍︎
M32 NGC 221		Le Gentil	Andromeda	Nov	00h 42.7m RA 40° 52m Dec	W	8.08	8x6	Galaxy	🔍︎
M110 NGC 205			Andromeda	Nov	00h 40.4m RA 41° 41m Dec	W	8.92	21.9*11.0	Galaxy	🔍︎