A galaxy is a collection of billions of stars and gas held together by gravity. There are various types of galaxies with different sizes and shapes, depending on the number of stars and their luminosity.
Earth itself is in the Milky Way galaxy, a galaxy that is made up of a huge collection of stars, dust and gas. It’s called a spiral galaxy because when viewed from above or below, it looks like a spinning pinwheel.
The Milky Way is also surrounded by other galaxies, which vary in distance, some near and far. In the following we will discuss some of the galaxies closest to the Milky Way.
1. Canis Major Dwarf
galaxy illustration (unsplash.com/ Arnaud Mariat)
The Canis Major Dwarf is an irregularly shaped dwarf galaxy with a mass of about one billion solar masses. It is one of our closest neighbours, located about 25,000 light years from the Sun and 42,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way. Swinburne University of Technology.
Recently, however, the Canis Major Dwarf has been invisible behind the dust and gas in the Milky Way’s disk. This galaxy was only discovered during an infrared survey Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), which allows astronomers to see beyond the dust.
2. Sagittarius Dwarf
galaxy illustration (pexels.com/pixabay)
Sagittarius Dwarf is an elliptical galaxy that is a satellite of the Milky Way. explained The Planetsthe diameter of this galaxy is about 10,000 light years and is located about 70,000 light years from the Solar System.
This galaxy contains four globular clusters. Messier 54 or M54 appears to be located in the galaxy’s core, whereas the other three, Terzan 7, Terzan 8, and Arp 2, are located within the galaxy’s main body.
Also Read: 5 Facts about the Alcyoneus Galaxy, the Biggest Galaxy in the Universe!
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3. Segue 1
galaxy illustration (pexels.com/Phhilippe Donn)
Segue 1 is a satellite of the Milky Way only about 75,000 light years away, according to American Astronomical Society. Segue 1 is the first ultra-faint dwarf spheroid galaxy discovered, and scientists have debated its nature for a long time.
However, it’s not just the nature of Segue 1 that’s being debated; scientists also want to understand where these tiny galaxies came from and how they ended up in orbit around the Milky Way. To answer this confusion, a team of scientists from University of Virginia and University of La Laguna have made the first self-moving observations of this unusual object.
4. Large Magellanic Cloud
ilustrasi The Large Magellanic Cloud (hubblesite.org)
explained Space Facts, The Large Magellanic Cloud is located about 163 thousand light years from Earth. For years astronomers thought that this galaxy orbited the Milky Way. However, recent measurements may prove they are moving too fast for that.
Most of the mass consists of gases and a small portion bound to the metal elements. The Big Magellanic has a shape that is distorted by gravitational interactions with the Milky Way. As these galaxies pass near the Milky Way, their gravitational pull also changes the shape of our outer galaxy.
5. Small Magellanic Cloud
galaxy illustration (pexels.com/Felix Mittermeier)
Small Magellanic Cloud or the Small Magellanic Cloud is one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way. This galaxy cannot be seen from most of North America, northern Africa, Europe, or Asia. However, in the Southern Hemisphere, Little Magellan appears quite clearly. In fact, the presence of this galaxy in the night sky helped early Polynesian culture navigate the seas.
Quoted from page Space, Little Magellan is located about 200,000 light years from the Milky Way, making it one of our galaxy’s closest neighbors. Little Magellan stretches across the sky, reaching some 7,000 light years. It is relatively small for a galaxy, but may still contain several hundred million stars.
6. Draco Dwarf
your beautiful galaxy (pixabay.com/WikiImages)
Draco Dwarf is a galaxy that orbits the center of the Milky Way. However, the distance is so great that it takes about one to two billion years to complete one rotation.
Explained site StarDate, the stars in the Draco galaxy are few and dim. Altogether, they emit less light than the brightest stars in the Milky Way.
Also Read: 7 Facts about Messier 87, the Galaxy Home to Supermassive Black Holes
