The Sky Today on Friday, November 13: Spot Mirach’s Ghost

This faint, faraway galaxy lies close to a nearby bright star, creating a spooky double image to enjoy this Friday the 13th. | Published: November 13, 2026 Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. November 12: An open cluster in Perseus Celebrate Friday the 13th with something spooky: a ghost in the constellation Andromeda. This evening, point your telescope toward 2nd-magnitude Mirach (Beta [β] Andromedae), already nearly 60° high in the east by 7 P.M. local time. One of the Princess’ brightest stars, Mirach is a cool, reddish M-type giant. It lies some 200 light-years away and shines nearly 2,000 times as brightly as our Sun. But Mirach is not quite our target — we’re looking for its so-called ghost, just 6.8’ northwest of the star. You’ll need a big scope to see it, but look carefully: Can you spot a faint smudge of light, about 4’ across, close to the star? This is the Ghost of Mirach, a far more distant elliptical galaxy glowing at 10th magnitude and cataloged as NGC 404. It lies some 8 million to 10 million light-years away, just beyond the gravitational bounds of our Local Group of galaxies. It’s called a ghost because it appears almost like a ghostly image of the bright star Mirach, which dominates the view. Sunrise: 6:43 A.M.Sunset: 4:45 P.M.Moonrise: 10:54 A.M.Moonset: 7:55 P.M.Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (21%)*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location. Alison Klesman is senior editor of Astronomy magazine. She holds a Ph.D. in astronomy and has studied a variety of topics, from minor planets to supermassive black holes.