THE LOCAL CLUSTER OF GALAXIES
We have learned that our Sun and planets are part of a huge group of stars called the Milky Way Galaxy and that it is in a flat pinwheel shape. If we could travel out of our Galaxy, we would see that there are other galaxies nearby that have different shapes and sizes. We would notice that about 2,200,000 light years away, there is another galaxy that is just like our’s in size and shape called the Andromeda Galaxy.
It is the only galaxy that can be seen from the northern hemisphere with the naked eye. Below is a list of galaxies and information about them.
|
NAME
|
SIZE
|
DISTANCE
|
SHAPE
|
|
|
|
(in light years)
|
|
Milky Way
|
100,000
|
0
|
Spiral
|
|
Large Magellanic Cloud
|
62,700
|
165,000
|
Irregular
|
|
Small Magellanic Cloud
|
26,000
|
209,000
|
Irregular
|
|
Draco
|
6,000
|
297,000
|
Elliptical
|
|
Ursa Minor
|
4,600
|
297,000
|
Elliptical
|
|
Sculptor
|
3,300
|
330,000
|
Elliptical
|
|
Sextans
|
6,600
|
330,000
|
Elliptical
|
|
Fornax
|
1,600
|
495,000
|
Elliptical
|
|
Leo I
|
3,300
|
594,000
|
Elliptical
|
|
Leo II
|
6,600
|
594,000
|
Elliptical
|
|
NGC 6822
|
11,500
|
1,650,000
|
Irregular
|
|
Andromeda
|
105,600
|
2,200,000
|
Spiral
|
