Ron Hurst, age 11, of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, for his question:

Where can we locate the nebula in Andromeda?

The light from this enormous galaxy is barely visible as a dim blue. So to find it we must know just where to look. It is easier to locate in the fall, when the constellation Andromeda is higher in the evening sky. In early spring, this narrow triangle of stars sets soon after the sun in the northwestern sky. First, we identify the constellation where the Great Nebula is to be found and trace its position in relation to more familiar stars.

The Big Dipper is one of the circumpolar constellations that circle around Polaris. On the opposite side of the circle is Cassiopeia, looking like a sprawling M or W of bright stars. The feet of the Andromeda triangle are in this part of the sky, outside the circumpolar circle. Its pointed peak is a corner star in the bright Square of Pegasus    and also Andromeda's head. Her arm extends down, slightly outside the shorter side of the triangle. On a clear night, you may locate the Great Nebula near where her wrist would be.