which is the nearest galaxy to milkyway?

Answer 1

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 Major 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

Answer 2

An international team of astronomers from France, Italy, the UK and Australia has found a previously unknown galaxy colliding with our own Milky Way. This newly-discovered galaxy takes the record for the nearest galaxy to the centre of the Milky Way. Called the Canis Major dwarf galaxy after the constellation in which it lies, it is about 25000 light years away from the solar system and 42000 light years from the centre of the Milky Way. This is closer than the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, discovered in 1994, which is also colliding with the Milky Way. The discovery shows that the Milky Way is building up its own disk by absorbing small satellite galaxies. The research is to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society within the next few weeks.

The discovery of the Canis Major dwarf was made possible by a recent survey of the sky in infrared light (the Two-Micron All Sky Survey or "2MASS"), which has allowed astronomers to look beyond the clouds of dust in the disk of the Milky Way. Until now, the dwarf galaxy lay undetected behind the dense disk. "It's like putting on infrared night vision goggles," says team-member Dr Rodrigo Ibata of Strasbourg Observatory. "We are now able to study a part of the Milky Way that has been previously out of sight".

Answer 3

The nearest galaxy's are the big and the small Magellan clouds that orbit the milky way but in the future it will be the Andromeda galaxy which could hit the milky way.

Answer 4

The Canis Major Dwarf galaxy

The Canis Major Dwarf galaxy is located in the same part of the sky as the constellation of Canis Major. The galaxy contains a relatively high percentage of red giant stars, and is thought to contain an estimated one billion stars in all.

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 as the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, the previous contender for closest galaxy to our location in the Milky Way.

Answer 5

The closest galaxy to the Milky Way is the Canis Major dwarf galaxy. In fact, it is so close that it is being cannibalized by the Milky Way. It is located at about 25000 light years from the Solar System.

Answer 6

The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest to the milky way.

Answer 7

anderomeda galaxy is the nearest galaxy to milkyway galaxy.

Answer 8

andromeda galaxy is the nearest galaxy to the milky way.

Answer 9

the nearest galaxy is andromeda.....which is close to our milkyway

Answer 10

the andromeda galaxy is the nearest to our galaxy