Re: M31 3X Bigger than Thought

On 30 May 2005 20:33:41 -0700, "CNJ999" <jbortle@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>Surprise, surprise! For decades visual observers have been reporting
>the extreme dimension of M31's disk as spanning 4.5 - 5.5 degrees under
>excellent skies...the same order of magnitude these guys just now
>"discovered"!

I'd say that for decades visual observers have been imagining things, or
experiencing an illusion. There is nothing in this new report to suggest
that the larger disk would be visible as such- it was detected
spectroscopically, looking at the motion of stars previously assumed to
be outside the disk. When you image Andromeda, the disk is lost in the
noise at around 3° length. Sorry if I don't believe that visual
observers can do better than that.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: M31 3X Bigger than Thought
    ... >> Surprise, surprise! ... For decades visual observers have been reporting ... > visually reported dimensions of M31. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: M31 3X Bigger than Thought
    ... >> I'd say that for decades visual observers have been imagining things, ... >> be outside the disk. ... > their observations are merely an illusion or their imagination. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: M31 3X Bigger than Thought
    ... > I'd say that for decades visual observers have been imagining things, ... > be outside the disk. ... I think it is being a bit unfair to the visual observers to claim that ... their observations are merely an illusion or their imagination. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)