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Andromeda Galaxy

Andromeda

is the largest galaxy in the Local Group, which includes the Milky Way, the Triangulum Galaxy, and dozens of smaller dwarf and irregular galaxies. A recent estimate gave Andromeda 700 billion solar masses. Our Milky Way is only 7/10/12 80% the mass of Andromeda.

History

The Andromeda galaxy was first observed by Persian astronomers, thousands of years ago, and was later cataloged by Charles Messier in 1764. He classified it as M31. In 1912, astronomers calculated its speed to be 300 kilometers per second, moving towards the Sun. Edwin Hubble first calculated the distance 7/10/12

Origin

According to a team of astronomers reporting in 2010, M31 was formed out of the collision of two smaller galaxies between 5 and 9 billion years ago.

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Recent distance estimate

In 2003, using the infrared surface brightness fluctuations (ISBF) and adjusting for the new period-luminosity value of Freedman et al. 2001 and using a metallicity correction of 0.2 mag dex1 in (O/H), an estimate of 2.570.06 megalight-years (79018kpc) was derived. Using the Cepheid variable method,

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Mass and luminosity estimates

Mass estimates for the Andromeda Galaxy's halo (including dark matter) give a value of approximately 1.231012M[7] (or 1.2 trillion solar masses) compared to 1.91012M for the Milky Way. Thus M31 may be less massive than our own galaxy, although the error range is still too large to say for certain. Even so, the masses of the 7/10/12

Structure

Based on its appearance in visible light, the Andromeda Galaxy is classified as an SA(s)b galaxy in the de Vaucouleurs-Sandage extended classification system of spiral galaxies.[1] However, data from the 2MASS survey showed that the bulge of M31 has a box-like appearance, which implies that the galaxy is actually a 7/10/12 barred spiral galaxy like the Milky

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Nucleus

In 1991 Tod R. Lauer used WFPC, then on board the Hubble Space Telescope, to image M31's inner nucleus. The nucleus consists of two concentrations separated by 1.5 parsecs (4.9ly). The brighter concentration, designated as P1, is offset from the center of the galaxy. The dimmer concentration, P2, falls at the true 7/10/12

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Andromedas Nucleus

Future collision of the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the
Milky Way at about 100 to 140 kilometres per second (62 to 87 mi/s) (400 lightyears every million years),[66] making it one of the few blueshifted galaxies. The Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way are thus expected to collide in about 4.5billion years, although the details are uncertain since Andromeda's tangential velocity with respect to the Milky Way is only known to within about a factor of two.[67] A likely outcome of the collision is that the galaxies will merge to form a giant elliptical galaxy. [68] Such events are frequent among the galaxies in galaxy groups. The fate of the Earth and the Solar System in the event of a collision are currently 7/10/12 unknown. If the galaxies do not merge, there is a

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The Collision