If you know where to look, you can see the Andromeda Galaxy with your naked eye. I think it's the only galaxy you can see with your naked eye.
On the night of December 26th, the Andromeda Galaxy is almost directly overhead (but you should be facing north). Zhicheng and I ended up lying on our backs on our picnic table benches, looking up into the sky. I won't bore you with the details of how to find Andromeda. You start by finding the constellation Cassiopeia, which is the one shaped like a letter "W". Star maps and instructions are easy to find on the Internet.
The superlatives about Andromeda just go on and on. It's by far the biggest thing you can see with your naked eye (100,000 light-years across). It's also the farthest thing you can see with your naked eye (2 million light-years away). But it is also the closest galaxy. The astronomers keep increasing the estimated number of stars in Andromeda. As of 2013, they're saying it has over a trillion stars.
Don't expect to see much. The Andromeda Galaxy is just a tiny smudge in the night sky. But for me, seeing it again every year has become almost a spiritual pilgrimage. A trillion stars! I can hear the excited voice of Carl Sagan in my head. A trillion stars! And to Sagan, when you have that many stars, most of which have at least some planets, the odds of there being life somewhere in the Andromeda Galaxy are favorable.
Anyway, in a world that seems to be 100% human-made, an endless stretch of gas stations, 7-11's and Taco Bells, it seems magical that you can look up into the night sky, and see a galaxy.
