See How Andromeda Would Look if It Were Brighter

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on the visual representation of the Andromeda Galaxy, specifically an image that exaggerates its brightness as seen from Earth. Participants express skepticism regarding the credibility of the source and the accuracy of the image, questioning whether it is an artist's impression or a processed photograph. The consensus acknowledges that while the image may not reflect actual observations through a telescope, it effectively illustrates the scale of Andromeda compared to the Moon. The discussion highlights the common misconception of celestial object sizes and the artistic liberties taken in astronomical imagery.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of astronomical imaging techniques
  • Familiarity with the Andromeda Galaxy and its characteristics
  • Knowledge of the Moon's apparent size in the night sky
  • Basic principles of visual perception in astronomy
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  • Research the methods of astronomical image processing
  • Explore the differences between artistic representations and actual astronomical observations
  • Learn about the Andromeda Galaxy's physical dimensions and distance from Earth
  • Investigate common misconceptions in celestial object sizes and perceptions
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Astronomy enthusiasts, educators, artists in scientific visualization, and anyone interested in the perception of celestial objects and their representations.

George K
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Hi everyone. The next link shows how the Andromeda should look like (from the Earth's surface) if its stars were much more brighter than they are (or if we could have a super-vision).
http://www.iflscience.com/space/what-andromeda-would-look-night-if-it-were-brighter
It seems so amazing as I couldn't even imagine how close the Andromeda is to us.
However, I'd like to verify this info (as I don't know the credibility of this site).
What's your opinion? Do you agree with this image?
 
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It looks reasonable to me, but I don't know if this an 'artists impression', or has somebody processed a real photo with the pixel brightness exaggerated,
Either way it's art rather than actual science, I like it though, and I wouldn't say it's misleading
 
This seems reasonable to me. The Moon's actual image is a lot smaller than image that most of us have in our mind's eye. The full moon only subtends about 1/2 of a degree, and Andromeda is a few degrees in image size.

Are you familiar with the two stars (separated by 5 1/2 degrees) in the Big Dipper that point to the North Star? On moonless nights I sometimes ask friends "How many full moons will fit between those two stars?" A typical response is "about four", which isn't close to the correct answer, "eleven." When we can't see the Moon, we think the Moon is bigger than it actually is.
 
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rootone said:
It looks reasonable to me, but I don't know if this an 'artists impression', or has somebody processed a real photo with the pixel brightness exaggerated,
Either way it's art rather than actual science, I like it though, and I wouldn't say it's misleading
If you read the text you'll see that the artist took a typical image of Andromeda and added it to the original photo, but in an appropriate scale (i.e. 3 times wider than the moon is).
 
Yes, I discovered that after my previous post, it seems to be a pretty good idea for a way of doing this image with fair accuracy.
 
rootone said:
It looks reasonable to me, but I don't know if this an 'artists impression'

a complete artists impression of the galaxy ... it looks nothing like that through a scope
 
davenn said:
a complete artists impression of the galaxy ... it looks nothing like that through a scope
Yes, it looks nothing like that through a scope with your eyes, but it looks like a photo to me.
 
russ_watters said:
Yes, it looks nothing like that through a scope with your eyes, but it looks like a photo to me.
I think that the artist used this photo:
http://www.universetoday.com/30289/andromeda-galaxy/
This photo is just flipped, rotated and scaled. (I can't find how this Andromeda's photo has been produced but it seems to be a combination of different captures through a telescope, as the several "circles of views" depict.)
 

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