2006-09-26 01:11:42 · 12 answers · asked by ANON 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
There are two nearer dwarf galaxies than the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, both discovered fairly recently,
But the answer really depends on if you mean large galaxies of comparable size to the Milky Way or dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way.
Large galaxies: Andromeda Galaxy (barred spiral galaxy) (M31) and Triangulum Galaxy (spiral galaxy) (M33) are the two nearest. M31 is larger than the Milky Way and M33 is smaller.
M31 is at a distance of 2.52±0.14 million light years away, Recent observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope revealed that M31 contains one trillion (10^12) stars, greatly exceeding the number of stars in our own galaxy. It has a radius of 69,600 ± 3,900 light years.
M33 is only minimally further away at a distance 2.59 million light years and has a radius of 27,000 light years. It is of about average size, compared to most spiral galaxies in the universe.
All three are members of The Local Group. This is the name given to the group of galaxies that includes our galaxy, the Milky Way. The group comprises over 30 galaxies, with its gravitational center located somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy.
The galaxies of the Local Group cover a 10 million light-year diameter. The group resides in the Canes Venatici cloud in the Virgo Supercluster.
The two most massive members of the group are the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. These two barred spirals each have a system of satellite galaxies.
The Milky Way's satellite system consists of Sag DEG, Large Magellanic Cloud, Small Magellanic Cloud, Canis Major Dwarf, Ursa Minor Dwarf, Draco Dwarf, Carina Dwarf, Sextans Dwarf, Sculptor Dwarf, Fornax Dwarf, Leo I, Leo II and Ursa Major Dwarf.
Andromeda's system comprises M32, M110, NGC 147, NGC 185, And I, And II, And III, And IV, And V, Pegasus dSph, Cassiopeia Dwarf, And VIII, And IX, and And X.
M33 (Triangulum), the third largest, and only ordinary spiral galaxy in the Local Group, may or may not be a companion to the Andromeda galaxy but probably has Pisces Dwarf as a satellite.
There are other members of the group which are gravitationally secluded from these large subgroups.
Confining our attention to the 13 satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, we discover the nearest two are:
SAGITTARIUS DWARF ELLIPTICAL GALAXY; The Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (SagDEG) is an elliptically looped shaped satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy. The main cluster which was first to be discovered in 1994 is roughly 10,000 light years in diameter, and is currently about 70,000 light years from Earth and traveling in a polar orbit at a distance of about 50,000 light years from the core of the Milky Way (about 1/3 the distance of the Large Magellanic Cloud).
Although it is one of the closest companion galaxies to the Milky Way, the main parent cluster is on the opposite side of the galactic core from Earth, and consequently is very faint, although it covers a large area of the sky.
Officially discovered in 1994, by Rodrigo Ibata, Mike Irwin, and Gerry Gilmore, Sag DEG was immediately recognized as being the nearest known neighbour to our Milky Way at the time.
From its discovery until 2003, it was considered to be the closest outside galaxy to Earth, but since then has been overtaken by the newly discovered Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy.
CANIS MAJOR DWARF GALAXY: The Canis Major dwarf galaxy is classified as an irregular galaxy and is now thought to be the closest neighbouring galaxy to our location in the Milky Way, being located about 25,000 light-years away from our Solar System and 42,000 light-years from the Galactic Center. It has a roughly elliptical shape and is thought to contain as many stars (1 billion) as the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, the previous contender for closest galaxy to our location in the Milky Way.
The galaxy was first discovered in November 2003 by an international team of French, Italian, British and Australian astronomers. Although closer to the Earth than the centre of the galaxy itself, the Canis Major Dwarf galaxy was difficult to detect as it is located behind the plane of the Milky Way, where concentrations of stars, gas and dust are densest. This, along with its small size, explains why it was not discovered sooner.
TO SUM UP:
M31 is 2,52 million light years away,
M33 is 2,59 million light years away,
Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy is 70,000 light years away
The Canis Major dwarf galaxy is 25,000 light years away
OTHER SATELLITE GALAXIES:
(in order of distance away)
The Large Magellanic Cloud is at a distance of 168,000 light years). It has about 1/20 the diameter of our galaxy and 1/10 the number of stars (i.e. about 10^10 stars).
The Small Magellanic Cloud contains around a billion stars and is at a distance of about 200,000 light-years, It is also one of the most distant objects that can be seen with the naked eye.
Both were first observed by the Portuguese mariner Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) in his attempted circumnavigation of the world,
The Ursa Minor Dwarf elliptical galaxy, discovered in 1954. is at a distance of 240,000 light years away,
The Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy, discovered in 1938 is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy and lies 254,000 light years from the solar system.
The Draco Dwarf galaxy was discovered in 1954 and is at a distance of 280,000 light years away,
The Sextans Dwarf galaxy, discovered in 1990, is an elliptical galaxy, receding from the Milky Way at 238 km/s and is at a distance of 320,000 light years away,
Ursa Major Dwarf Galaxy, discovered in 2005, is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy measuring only a few thousand light years in diameter and is the second least luminous galaxy known and is located at a distance of about 330,000 light years from the Earth.
The Carina Dwarf galaxy, discovered in 1977 with the UK Schmidt Telescope, is receding from the Milky Way at 229 km/s and is at a distance of 360,000 light years away,
The Fornax Dwarf was discovered in 1938, is receding from the Milky Way at 53 km/s and is at a distance of 460,000 light years away,
Leo II (or Leo B), discovered in 1950, is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy approximately 701,000 light years from Earth, and 4,200 light-years in diameter.
Leo I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy discovered in 1950 and is at a distance of 815,000 ± 82,000 light years away,
2006-09-26 01:54:41 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 13⤊ 1⤋
The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest independant galaxy to our own ar 2.5 million light years away, however, the Milky Way has many "dwarf galaxies" orbiting it which are actually part of the Milky Way. This includes the large and small Magallenic clouds as well as a few more recently discovered star clusters above and below the disk.
2006-09-26 23:53:57 · answer #2 · answered by minuteblue 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest one to The Milky Way (our own) and it's approximately 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda, which lies in the northern hemisphere of the sky.
The Andromeda Galaxy is easily visible to the naked eye in a moderately dark sky. It appears quite small to the eye because only the central part is bright enough to be visible, but the full angular diameter of the galaxy is seven times that of the full moon.
Have a look at this link for some pictures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_galaxy
2006-09-26 01:25:55 · answer #3 · answered by squirrellondon 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nearest Galaxy To Our Own
2016-11-12 22:12:09 · answer #4 · answered by giannetti 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Humans have only ever got as far as the moon, and unmanned probes have barely left the solar system, let alone the galaxy. To leave the galaxy within a human lifetime, a space probe would need to travel faster than light, which is not possible with current technology.
2016-03-13 04:46:58 · answer #5 · answered by Maria 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Two very small galaxies, the Large Megellantic Cloud(180,000 light years distance) and the Small Megellantic Cloud(210,000 l.y.d.), can be seen from Earth's Southern Hemisphere. Named for the 16th Century Explorer (Megellan).. they are our Galaxy's closest companions, and orbit within the Milk Way's gravitational field. Our comparably sized sister Galaxy (Andromeda), has a few smaller Galaxies orbiting her as well. Together they make up what is known as the "Local Group". Our group in turn is part of a much larger group, called the "Virgo Cluster". Actually it's more like a 'super cluster', in that it contains not only more Galaxies than our group... but much bigger ones too! Because of that group's much larger size, thus; stronger influence, our group is very slowly being drawn towards them.
And as for that "Milky Way" in Floyd's refrigerator?... well.. it's
nowhere near the size of the one we live in.... but it's alot more tastier.
Tooler :)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060809.html
2006-09-26 03:37:07 · answer #6 · answered by Tooler 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Large and Small Magellenic Clouds are dwarf galaxies, which are closer to the Milky Way galaxy than the Andromeda galaxy.
They are actually being swallowed up by our galaxy, so you could say that they are no distance away from our galaxy, but from Earth they are 169,000 lightyears and 210,000 lightyears (respectively) away.
2006-09-26 01:35:02 · answer #7 · answered by jfhaslam 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure that it is well determined that Andromeda is the nearest, but anyway it is in the distance of 2.5 million light-years from the milky way, definitelt not like written above.
2006-09-26 01:21:21 · answer #8 · answered by Ilham Aliyev 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Great nebula in Andromeda is, along with our Milky Way, a member of the so-called "Local Group", of about 30 galaxies. Andromeda galaxy is the biggest, about 150,000 light years in diameter, and ours is second at about 100,000 light years in diameter. The whole Local Group is about 3 million light years across; Andromeda is about 2 million l.y. from us..
2006-09-26 01:29:26 · answer #9 · answered by Paul FB 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Andromeda - not sure how far away. About 4 light years?
Sorry - they're right. It's 2.5 million light years away - I think it's Alpha Centuri (nearest star to us) that's 4.
2006-09-26 01:13:27 · answer #10 · answered by Hello Dave 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think its the Andromeda galaxy. I don't know how far away, but its soooo far away that no one will ever reach it.
Not even Star Trek starships with warp 9.95 would ever be able to reach an other galaxy.
2006-09-26 01:15:04 · answer #11 · answered by DrAnubis 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋