February 1, 2013
This 50-pound telescope and it’s 10-inch diameter mirror is the workhorse of CGAA. Coined the “Pig”, it’s able to resolve even the farthest objects in a dark sky. The Andromeda Galaxy is our nearest neighbor.
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A neighbor both near and far
What’s that smudge up in the sky? Say hello to our closest neighbor — only 2.9 million light years away! The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is at the same time the nearest major galaxy to our neck of the woods, and the most distant object readily visible to the naked eye. M31 is often considered a replica of our own galaxy, the “Milky Way.”
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