What’s the closest galaxy to us?
Apart from the Milky Way of course… the answer is surprising.
Most people would probably answer the Andromeda Galaxy, but this would be totally wrong.
A little over a decade ago my school co-conducted a survey with another to detail the night sky around us.
Among many of the discoveries made in this survey was that there was something strange going on about 25,000 lightyears from Earth. The stars in that area were unusually dense.
In addition, the collection of stars was elliptical-shaped.
The incredible part?
It’s inside the Milky Way.
Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, a small galaxy of a billion stars, is now thought to be the closest (non-Milky Way) galaxy to Earth at a mere 25,000 lightyears away from Earth.
It was likely an independent galaxy until our much larger one ate it. It’s since been leaving a trail of stars as it orbits around the middle of the Milky Way.
This means, like the Galapagos, you’d better go there soon if you want to see what it’s like. In a few billion years its stars may all have been stolen by the gravity of the Milky Way.
(Image credit: VncntM)
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