Local Group: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:16, 17 November 2004

Revision as of 19:25, 27 November 2004

Line 2:

The '''Local Group''' is the group of [[galaxy|galaxies]] that includes our galaxy, the [[Milky Way]]. The group comprises over 30 galaxies, with its gravitational center located somewhere between the Milky Way and the [[Andromeda Galaxy]]. The galaxies of the Local Group cover a 10 million [[light year]] diameter (see [[1 E23 m]] for distance comparisons). The group belongs to the [[Virgo Supercluster]].

The two most massive members of the group are the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. These two spirals each have a system of satellite galaxies. The Milky Way's satellite system consists of [[Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy|Sag DEG]], [[Large Magellanic Cloud]], [[Small Magellanic Cloud]], [[Canis Major (dwarf galaxy)|Canis Major]], [[Ursa Minor (dwarf galaxy)|Ursa Minor]], [[Draco (dwarf galaxy)|Draco]], [[Carina (dwarf galaxy)|Carina]], Sectans[[Sextans (dwarf galaxy)|Sextans]], [[Sculptor (dwarf galaxy)|Sculptor]], [[Fornax (dwarf galaxy)|Fornax]], [[Leo I (dwarf galaxy)|Leo I]], [[Leo II (dwarf galaxy)|Leo II]] and [[Tucana (dwarf galaxy)|Tucana]]. Andromeda's system comprises M32, M110, NGC 147, NGC 185, And I, And II, And III and And IV. M33, the third largest galaxy in the Local Group may or may not be a companion to the Andromeda galaxy but probably has LGS 3 as a satellite. The other members of the group are gravitionally secluded from these large subgroups.

* [[Spiral galaxy|Spiral galaxies]]