About Mellisa Nair
Specializing in the creation of SEO-friendly content, Mellisa brings enthusiasm and expertise to our team. Her work in digital marketing and social media is complemented by her academic background in economics and English literature, as she holds a Bachelor's degree in these subjects from Wilson College Chowpatty, Mumbai. Mellisa's experience working with clients from various industries, including retail, education, and technology, reflects her ability to adapt her skills to different contexts and audiences.
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- Bachelor of Arts specializing in Economics and English Literature
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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.
Fun Merycoidodon Facts For Kids
This article will tell you everything there is to know about Merycoidodon mammals that lived during the Oligocene epoch. The Merycoidodon, named in 1848, was a genus of land-browsing herbivorous artiodactyl (oreodonts) belonging to the family Merycoidodontidae.
They were commonly known as Oreodon and were endemic to North America. They lived throughout the Middle and Late Eocene-Late Oligocene era, about 16-45 million years ago.
Their name was given by Joseph Leidy in 1848, along with several other Oreodont species like Merycoidodon culbertsoni, Merycoidodon halprin, and M. gracilis.
Even though the genus' name is Merycoidodon, many researchers and paleontologists prefer calling it Oligocene epoch oreodont, or Oreodon. The last of its lineage or descendants existed about 10 million years ago, likely around the end of the Miocene.
Read on to find out more about this mammal including details about the Merycoidodon timeline, and the taxonomy of its remains. For more related content, check out these Caviramus facts and Brachytrachelopan fun facts pages.
Fun Razanandrongobe Facts For Kids
This article is about a large predatory archosaur from the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic age in Madagascar that is now stored at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Milan.
Razanandrongobe is an extinct genus of carnivorous animals from the Ziphosuchian clade, that lived during the Middle Jurassic period in Madagascar, East Africa. It is the oldest known notosuchian (a group of crocodylomorphs) and was discovered in 1972, by some local collectors who found two tooth-bearing skull fragments projecting from the ground.
Several other fossils belonging to the species were also discovered in the following year like fragments of a premaxilla and the lower jawbone of an individual specimen.
Even though the species were discovered years ago, it was not formally described until 2017.
It was named by Cristiano Dal Sasso and his colleagues and its name means 'giant lizard ancestor from the Sakalava region'. The remains of Razanandrongobe helped scientists clear several doubts and the 75 million-year-old gap in the group's evolutionary history.
Keep on reading to know more about this pre-historic creature. For more relatable content, check out these Palaeosaurus facts and Hungarosaurus facts for kids.
Fun Coryphodon Facts For Kids
This article will tell you everything there is to know about the first giant mammals, known as pantodonts, that appeared 10 million years after dinosaurs went extinct. The article covers their history, range, diet, behavior and much more.
The Coryphodon is an extinct genus of large mammals. It was a pantodont and was a member of the first group of large browsing mammals.
Originally it lived in Asia and then migrated to Northern America during the Late Paleocene, and Early-Middle Eocene epochs of the Cenozoic era, about 50-63 million years ago, replacing an earlier pantodont called Barylambda. The first fossil was recovered from Wyoming, in North America.
Several other specimens were also found in Europe, Mongolia, and China. The Coryphodon started the ecological space occupied by pigs, camels, cows, rhinos, elephants, and deers. So far, five genera have been grouped with the Coryphodon and about 35 species are under review to be assigned to this genus.
Studies revealed that the Coryphodon was not a smart animal. The species had a semi-aquatic lifestyle.
Its name is derived from Greek and translates to 'peaked tooth', referencing the angles of its ridges. This creature was incredibly slow as it had short limbs that supported its heavy body.
Read on to learn all about the Coryphodon. Learn about other pre-historic animals on our Hypohippus fact pages and Scelidotherium facts pages too.
Fun Skylark Facts For Kids
The skylark is a song singing bird found in the continents like Europe, Asia, and in few parts of Australia. The grassland, the valley areas, and the marshy farmland constitute the habitat of these birds.
They mostly feed on seeds or insects. They are famous for the song sung by the male birds are noticed to sing during their flight.
The flight is generally very high up in the air. These birds create the nest during spring till the summer and feed the chick until the onset of autumn to make them independent.
The chicks are nurtured by both the parents feeding on invertebrates and few seeds. During the gestation period, the female is known to fly and hide within the vegetation to protect themselves from predators.
It takes around 18-25 days from birth for the chicks to be completely independent are seen to leave the nest. With the onset of winter, these birds travel south from the northern mountains to find adequate food and shelter.
If you like reading this, you might want to read about umbrellabird and bee-eater.
Fun Avisaurus Facts For Kids
The Avisaurus (bird-lizard) is an extinct genus of Cretaceous birds that belonged to the group called enantiornithines. This enantiornithine bird lived during the Late Cretaceous, approximately 70.6 to 66 million years ago in North America.
It was originally described by Michael K. Brett-Surman and Paul in 1985, but was not yet considered as an enantiornithine.
In fact, this idea was strongly opposed until later when the fossils of A. archibaldi and Soroavisaurus were studied together, and it was revealed that they both lived during the Late Cretaceous, however in separate regions (North and South America).
The specific name Avisaurus archibaldi honors J. David Archibald, who discovered it near the Hell Creek Formation in Garfield County, Montana, USA.
For more related content, check out these Caviramus facts and Ludodactylus facts for kids.
