Andromeda Galaxy Distance From Milky Way: Here's What You Need To Know!

Initially, astronomers believed that our Milky Way Galaxy included the whole universe.

The Milky Way is a barred galaxy with a diameter of 100,000–200,000 light-years and an estimated visual diameter of 100,000–200,000 light-years. According to recent calculations, a dark matter disc including some visible stars might have a diameter of about two million light-years.

The Milky Way has multiple satellite galaxies and is a member of the Local Group, which is part of the Virgo Supercluster, which is part of the Laniakea Supercluster.

The name Milky Way is derived from the Greek term 'galaktikos kyklos,' which means 'milky circle'. The Milky Way seems to be a band from Earth because its disk-shaped structure is seen as it is visible from within.

Galileo Galilei used his telescope for the very first time in 1610 to resolve a band of light into individual stars. Until the early '20s, most astronomers believed that the Milky Way contained all of the stars in the universe.

Observers using telescopes to search for comets had been seeing 'nebulae' for some time, a name that referred to any blurry night-sky object that wasn't a comet.

Spiral nebulae, like Andromeda, were named from their spiral shapes. The narrative began in the early 1900s when astronomer Vesto Slipher computed Andromeda's radial velocity or the rate at which the galaxy was traveling toward or away from Earth. Slipher accomplished this by spotting a telltale stretching or compression in the light from Andromeda as it approached Earth.

The Andromeda Galaxy was first discovered in 964 AD when a Persian astronomer called Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi published a book on 'Fixed Stars.' He mentioned Andromeda in it and the location of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a much smaller satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.

The Andromeda Galaxy was once thought to be a 'small cloud' in the sky. Sir William Huggins, an English astronomer, used a prism to split apart and examine the many hues of light from several nebulae in 1864. Huggins discovered that the light spectra of M31 differed significantly from those of the other nebulae when he did so.

The Andromeda Galaxy holds one trillion stars, according to several studies. It has a diameter of almost 200,000 light-years. That's a lot bigger than the Milky Way, which is now believed to be 150,000 light-years across.

Isaac Roberts captured the first image of Andromeda in 1887, revealing its spiral structure. Even back then, Andromeda was thought to be a nearby nebula.

Heber Curtis discovered a nova in Andromeda in 1917. He uncovered several additional novae while combing through the photographic records and determined that they were considerably fainter in Andromeda than elsewhere in the Milky Way.

Astronomers didn't figure out how to break the Andromeda spiral nebula down and locate individual stars until the 20th century. This finding sparked a debate over if the Andromeda spiral nebula and the other spiral nebulae are part of the Milky Way or not.

Edwin Hubble ultimately put the matter to rest in the '20s when he utilized Cepheid variable stars in the Andromeda Galaxy to prove that there are island universes beyond the Milky Way's limits.

If you like what you have found out so far, read on to find out more answers to questions like: will the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies collide someday? How far away is Andromeda Galaxy from the Milky Way Galaxy? How much bigger is Andromeda than the Milky Way? Is the Andromeda Galaxy further than the Milky Way?

How far away is the Andromeda Galaxy, and how can you see it? What is the largest galaxy in the universe? Will we ever visit Andromeda? And much more.

Andromeda Galaxy Location

The Andromeda Galaxy (commonly, M31) may be viewed with the naked eye in the constellation Andromeda. This spiral galaxy is the nearest and largest galaxy neighbor of the Milky Way.

The Milky Way contains many dwarf partner galaxies, such as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, that are closer than M31, but M31 is the closest giant galaxy neighbor. Andromeda is also the Local Group's biggest galaxy.

The Andromeda Galaxy, commonly known as the Andromeda Nebula, is a huge spiral galaxy that is present inside the constellation Andromeda. It is our closest big galaxy (catalog numbers NGC 224 and M31).

The Andromeda Galaxy, which appears as a milky blur to the naked eye, is one of not many galaxies that can be visible to the naked eye. It's around 2,480,000 light-years away from Earth.

IC 1101, which is about 50 times the size of the Milky Way and 2,000 times more massive, is the largest known galaxy. It spans around 5.5 million light-years. The magnitude of nebulas, or huge clouds of gas, is likewise remarkable.

Andromeda Galaxy Features

There are around a dozen satellite galaxies in both the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. Both are 100,000 light-years in diameter and contain enough mass to produce billions of stars.

The majority of Messier objects in our Milky Way Galaxy are star clusters. However, the Andromeda Galaxy is a different entity, considerably larger than our home galaxy, the Milky Way. It appears as a smudge of distant light bigger than a full moon in a dark sky.

This galaxy was once known as the Great Andromeda Nebula. This patch of light was assumed to be made up of incandescent gases or a solar system in the process of development by astronomers. Astronomers didn't figure out until the 20th century how to break the Andromeda spiral nebula down and locate individual stars.

This finding sparked debate about whether the other spiral nebulae and the Andromeda spiral nebula are part of the Milky Way or not.

Deep scans of the Andromeda Galaxy's outer regions have revealed large clouds and star streams structures.

They have features that suggest they are what is remaining of smaller galaxies that were taken over or 'eaten,' as astronomers call it, by the giant center galaxy, and also clouds of M31 stars that were ejected by the intense tidal force caused by the collision.

In late September and early October, the Andromeda Galaxy appears in the eastern sky at nightfall, swings well overhead in the middle of the night, and stands fairly high in the west at the start of the morning dawn.

What will happen when the Milky Way collides with Andromeda?

The Andromeda Galaxy looms big in our night sky, as seen from Earth during its visits.

However, once the two finally entangle, they will combine into one massive group of stars. However, the ultimate object will be an elliptical galaxy rather than a spiral galaxy.

Milkomeda is the name given to this future galaxy by astronomers, and mergers like this happen all the time. While a collision between two galaxies may appear to only result in destruction, this is not the case. Because the distances between stars are so large, it's unlikely that the merger will disturb our Solar System.

Three spiral galaxies have projected orbital trajectories, our Milky Way, Andromeda (M31), and Triangulum (M33). According to recent research based on Europe's Gaia satellite measurements, the Milky Way and Andromeda will collide in around 4.5 billion years.

How much time would it take us to get to the Andromeda Galaxy?

Milkomeda is the name given to the future galaxy by astronomers that will form after the merger between Milky Way, and Andromeda Galaxy is complete, which is still billions of years away.

While it may seem like a collision between two galaxies can only result in destruction, galaxy mergers frequently result in massive bursts of star formation. This will also be big and bright enough to be visible from our Solar System, though humans are unlikely to live long enough to witness it.

Regardless, the Milkomeda collision will result in a slew of dazzling, new stars in our night sky. The Andromeda Galaxy is rapidly approaching us, but it will take over four billion years to arrive.

Andromeda is already closer, seems bigger, and its gravitational force has begun to warp the Milky Way's plane. The current distance between the Earth and Andromeda Galaxy is around 2.5 million light-years.