Our Milky Way galaxy is a member of a larger group
called the Local Group. The local group is also a
part of a larger cluster, but that is covered in the
Cosmology section.Our local group contains
about 40 members with the biggest and brightest
being:
- Our
Milky Way
- The Andromeda Galaxy - M31
- The Triangulum Galaxy - M33
While it is difficult to determine the
members of our own local group (because our view
is somewhat limited from within a
galaxy),
astronomers have been able to create a map:
(Image Credit: Swinburne Astronomy Online) Our
local group has a diameter of around 1 Mpc. The
map is color coded:
- Green = spiral galaxies
- Blue = irregular galaxies
- Pink = elliptical galaxies
The sizes are not to exact scale, but
does demonstrate that spiral
galaxies are
larger than elliptical
galaxies. Back
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