• Key Information

  • Andromeda Galaxy

  • Type
    Galaxy (barred spiral)
  • Diameter
    220,000 light years
  • Distance
    2,540,000 light years
  • Total Stars
    About 1 trillion
  • Date of Discovery
    Unknown
  • Learning Point
  • Andromeda is a huge spiral galaxy that is "close" to our Milky Way, and of a similar size and construction. It is possible to see it with the naked eye, and has been known since ancient times.
  • Project
  • Draw the Andromeda Galaxy.
  • Location
  • Located in
    Andromeda constellaton, within the Local Cluster (of galaxies)
  • Fun Facts
  • The Andromeda Nebula, is a barred spiral galaxy with diameter of about 220,000 ly approximately 2.5 million light-years from us.
  • It is thought the mass (weight) of the Andromeda Galaxy is slighty less than that of our Milky Way Galaxy.
  • German astronomer Simon Marius gave an early description of the Andromeda Galaxy using a telescope in 1612.
  • Nearby stars around the Andromeda Galaxy have recently been identified as belonging to the galaxy, which may increase its size more than we had previously thought.
  • Mayall II is a globular cluster in the Andromeda Galaxy that is larger than any other known cluster of stars nearby to our galaxy, and might have been a dwarf galaxy swallowed by the Andromeda Galaxy.