(excluding the Milky Way galaxy)? How far away is this galaxy? What is the shape of this galaxy?
2006-12-19 09:59:38 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Andromeda is the closest real galaxy, about 2 million light years away. There are several groups of stars nearer, that some call dwarf galaxies, like the Magellenic clouds, but they're tiny and don't have defined centers, so I wouldn't call them galaxies.
2006-12-19 10:15:08 · answer #1 · answered by Nomadd 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nearest large galaxies:
(1)Andromeda Galaxy (M31 in the Messier Catalogue) 2.56 million light years away, Barred spiral galaxy.
(2) Triangulum Galaxy (M33 in the Messier Catalogue) 2.64 million light years away. Spiral galaxy,
With the Milky Way (our galaxy, which is also a barred spiral galaxy) these are the three largest galaxies in what is known as the Local Group.
Nearest dwarf galaxies (satellite galaxies of the Milky Way):
(1) Canis Minor Dwarf Galaxy (25,000 light years away)
(2) Virgo Stellar Stream (30,000 light years away) only discovered October 2005
(3) Saggitarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (81,000 light years away)
(4) Large Magellanic Cloud (168,000 light years away)
For a full list see the link
2006-12-19 12:07:17 · answer #2 · answered by Not_many_people_know_this_but 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
For many years astronomers thought it was the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). But the seemingly insignificant fuzzy patch shown above turned out to be part of a galaxy that is even closer. Deemed the "Sagittarius Dwarf", this small galaxy went unnoticed until its discovery in 1994 by R. Ibata, G. Gilmore and M. Irwin (RGO). The reason the Sagittarius Dwarf hadn't been discovered earlier is because it is so dim, it is so spread out over the sky, and there are so many Milky Way stars in front of it. The distance to the Sagittarius Dwarf was recently measured to be about one third of the distance to the LMC. Astronomers now believe that this galaxy is slowly being torn apart by the vast gravitational forces of our Galaxy.
2006-12-19 10:01:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to Wikipedia it is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy.
2006-12-19 10:03:38 · answer #4 · answered by ewetaunt 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Andromida galaxy. it's about 2.5 millon light years away. Do a google search for the Andromida Galaxy.
2006-12-19 10:37:36 · answer #5 · answered by golden rider 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Andromeda Galaxy is the closest galaxy to The MIlky Way, of course that is thousandds of years lights away, but its our lovely neighbor..and the name is pretty cool too!! Not so sure about the size, but its bigger than ours...
2006-12-19 10:05:28 · answer #6 · answered by Mario Avila 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Well, I know it's a spiral galxy...just not sure what it is...
2006-12-19 11:39:48 · answer #7 · answered by AD 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋