The Andromeda Galaxy
Looking at the night sky, one often wonders about the stars, the universe or our own galaxy for that matter. The first question arises in mind is that- which is the nearest galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy? And the answer is the Andromeda, our closest intergalactic neighbor. We can even see the Andromeda with our naked eye. In order to see it, we need a good place which is away from bright light.
About ‘The Andromeda galaxy’
It is believed that roughly 10 billion years ago the collision between the small galaxies lead to the formation of the Andromeda galaxy. It is approximately 2.5 million light years away from earth. The Andromeda galaxy is a spiral galaxy, named after the Greek princess Andromeda, also known as Messier 31 or M 31. The diameter is about 220,000 light years. Milky Way has around 200-400 billion stars while there are around 1 trillion stars in the Andromeda galaxy (more than twice that of Milky Way galaxy). The mass of the Andromeda galaxy is around 400 billion solar mass, or in simpler trems, we can say the mass equivalent to the mass of 400 billion suns. A cluster of 54 galaxies exists, called a local group including our Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. The Andromeda galaxy is the largest and the brightest galaxy in the local cluster but the Milky Way is the most massive galaxy because it contains more dark matter compared to other galaxies.
Intergalactic travel
I think most of the people have already watched "Interstellar" movie. In this movie, the wormhole is used as a tunnel to reach widely separated parts of the universe in quick time. Intergalactic travel is the term used for hypothetical travel between galaxies. The distance between galaxies is enormous, therefore we need to develop technology which will allow us to travel at the speed of light. Using this technology we can travel to another galaxy in short span. To reach the speed of light, we have to build propulsion far beyond what is currently thought possible. We cannot exceed the speed of light as per our current understanding of physics. If we want to give a visit to the Andromeda galaxy, we have to travel way faster than the speed of light.
So I can say that intergalactic travel is not possible with our current understanding of physics and current technology. But in future, it may be.
Here are some fascinating facts about ‘The Andromeda galaxy’……
1. The Andromeda galaxy was once thought to be a Nebula. But in 1924, Astronomer Edwin Hubble announced that it is a galaxy.
2. Like our galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy also has a supermassive black hole at the core.
3. Apart from a supermassive black hole at the core, there are another 26 known small black holes at the center of the galaxy.
4. In 1991, a Hubble photograph revealed that the Andromeda galaxy has a double nucleus. Scientists believed that these double nuclei are the nuclei of the ancient galaxies which collided and resulted into Andromeda.
5. There is a massive cluster of stars at the center of the galaxy.
6. The Andromeda galaxy is heading towards our galaxy at approximately 100-140 km/sec.
7. Scientist estimated that in the future, the Andromeda galaxy and Milky Way galaxy are going to collide with each other in nearly 4 billion years and the result will be a giant elliptical galaxy.
8. The Andromeda galaxy has many older stars compared to the Milky Way which can give us valuable information about the birth of the galaxy.
9. Like planets, galaxies also have satellites. There are 14 dwarf galaxies which are orbiting around the Andromeda galaxy like satellites.
10. The Andromeda galaxy is approximately 2.5 million light years away from earth. Currently, we don’t have enough technology to travel at the speed of light, therefore, it is impossible for us to reach Andromeda.
Written by:
Kanchan Ramteke
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