Just learned that the Andromeda Galaxy is actually bigger in our sky than the moon

I read it in an old astronomy textbook from the library, but you obviously can't see it that way because it's so dim. Has anyone else stumbled on a fact that makes you look up differently?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliviac221mo ago

Okay but like, you can't actually see it. So does that fact even matter in a real way?

jamieburns1mo ago

Yeah oliviac22 has a point about seeing it, but that fact still messes with my head. I read that if our eyes were better at picking up faint light, the Andromeda galaxy would look like a huge smoky smear across the sky, way bigger than the moon. It makes you feel tiny, but also connected. Like we're just a small part of this huge thing hanging right over us that we can't even see properly.