2

I think that the galaxy closest to the Earth, that is, to the Milky Way, is the nebula called Andromeda, which is 2.5 million light years away. Despite this great distance, M31 is visible, and very pretty. Are there any galaxies closer to the Milky Way than the Andromeda galaxy?

Glorfindel
  • 4,790
  • 3
  • 25
  • 40
user36923
  • 57
  • 1
  • 7
    I’m voting to close this question because you haven't asked a question. You've just stated a fact. (and it is not correct as written as there are at least two closer galaxies, the LMC and the SMC ) – James K Nov 16 '20 at 17:36
  • 3
    Can you edit this so that the question is asked in the question body; you seem to be supplying an answer to the question in the body. If you include the dwarf spheroidal galaxies and satellites of the Milky Way, then M31 Andromeda Galaxy is only the 86th closest in this list – astrosnapper Nov 16 '20 at 17:36
  • 3
    I've made a quick edit to turn this into a question and voted to reopen. Let's see what everyone else thinks... – Aaron F Nov 17 '20 at 09:21
  • 2
    It is the Magellan cloud, not the Andromeda. It is a dwarf galaxy, not so far away. They have the best beer in our local group. – peterh Nov 17 '20 at 10:54
  • 1
    The edits made by @AaronF help to clarify the question. The comment by astrosnapper is a good start to an answer. – Jim421616 Nov 17 '20 at 19:00
  • +1 I'm happy this interesting is now open and I think the edits would have been done just as quickly without any of the close and reopen drama. This is a low question rate site, there's hardy any danger of being overwhelmed with bad answers quickly, and therefore no actual constructive contribution from the answer-blocking question-closing. – uhoh Nov 18 '20 at 05:35
  • Different but related: How many satellites does the Milky Way have? – uhoh Nov 18 '20 at 05:35

1 Answers1

5

At last 80 nearby galaxies are believed to be part of a small cluster called the Local Group.

The three largest members of the Local Group, have their own system of satellite galaxies.

Over 50 galaxies are satellite galaxies of the Milky Way Galaxy and are closer to it than the Andromeda Galaxy is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_galaxies

The Andromeda Galaxy is actually number 86 in that list of nearest galaxies.

The Small Magellanic Cloud is number 23 and the large Magellanic Cloud is number 19.

The nearest galaxy on the list is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, altough its status as a galaxy is soemewhat disputed.

If the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is not actually a galaxy, the next galaxy on the list would become the nearest galaxy. That is Draco II.

M. A. Golding
  • 7,595
  • 7
  • 26