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Andromeda galaxy

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Andromeda galaxy

(M31; NGC 224) The largest of the nearby galaxies, visible to the unaided eye as a faint oval patch of light in the constellation Andromeda. It is an intermediate (Sb) spiral (see Hubble classification), orientated at an angle of about 15° from the edge-on position, and has a bright elliptical-shaped nucleus. Its distance is currently estimated as 725 kiloparsecs (2.36 million light years). With a total luminosity roughly double that of our own Galaxy and an overall diameter of approximately 60 kiloparsecs, M31 is the largest of the established members of the Local Group. It has at least four elliptical satellites, including NGC 205 and NGC 221 (M32).
Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

Andromeda Galaxy

[‚an′dräm·ə·də ′gal·ək·sē]
(astronomy)
The spiral galaxy of type Sb nearest to the Milky Way. Also known as Andromeda Nebula.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive
For example, our nearest neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy, devoured galaxies weighing nearly 30 times more than those consumed by the Milky Way.
The timing of the merger may also explain the thickening of the disk of the Andromeda galaxy as well as a burst of star formation two billion years ago, a finding which was independently reached by French researchers earlier this year.
Caption: The spiral Andromeda galaxy (shown) Is embedded In an Invisible gas bubble that extends nearly halfway to the Milky Way, a study finds.
Large galaxies generally have a retinue of dwarf galaxies orbiting them, and the Andromeda Galaxy shows two in the same low-power field.
At 2.5 million light years from our own galaxy (the Milky Way) the Andromeda Galaxy is our closest giant neighbour.
At 2.5m light years from our own galaxy (the Milky Way) the Andromeda Galaxy is our closest giant neighbour.
The Andromeda Galaxy: A Guide To The Universe by Donald Craig, Jr.
Then there are the aliens from Andromeda Galaxy M31 who have probably found Voyager 1 by now, which is the rocket ship we sent into space in 1977 to tell Extra Terrestrials, "Hi.
Learn how to find Mars and the Andromeda galaxy ( the most distant object that can be seen without a telescope - with expert Martin Lunn.
Our Milky Way galaxy may be on a crash course with the Andromeda galaxy, 2.2 million light-years away.
To be nearly visible to the unaided eye from the vast distance of the Andromeda galaxy, it had to be enormously more luminous than the run-of-the-mill novas that had been seen since Kepler's time.
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