How big is the Milky Way galaxy compared to the Andromeda Galaxy?

The reason the collision is happening a few billion years ahead of schedule is that the Andromeda Galaxy is much bigger than it appears. The galaxy’s bright, starry disk is about 120,000 light years in diameter, making it slightly larger than the Milky Way.

Is Andromeda older than the Milky Way?

For comparison, the diameter of the Milky Way’s disk has long been thought to be only about half that: around 100,000 light-years. And in terms of the stars present, the Andromeda galaxy’s stars are much older, and its star-formation rate is much lower: only about 20-30% that of the Milky Way.

Is Andromeda or Milky Way bigger?

By some estimates, the Andromeda Galaxy contains roughly one trillion stars. That’s significantly bigger than the Milky Way, which more recent estimates suggest is 150,000 light-years across (though the exact boundary of where either of these galaxies “end” is a bit nebulous).

Is the Andromeda Galaxy twice the size of the Milky Way?

The Andromeda Galaxy has a diameter of about 220,000 ly (67 kpc), making it the largest member of the Local Group in terms of extension. The number of stars contained in the Andromeda Galaxy is estimated at one trillion (1×1012), or roughly twice the number estimated for the Milky Way.

Is Andromeda the biggest galaxy?

The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest galaxy of the Local Group, which, in addition to the Milky Way, also contains the Triangulum Galaxy and about 30 other smaller galaxies.

What is bigger than the galaxy?

From largest to smallest they are: Universe, galaxy, solar system, star, planet, moon and asteroid.

Is anything bigger than a galaxy?

Will the moon eventually crash into the earth?

Long answer: The Moon is in a stable orbit around Earth. There is no chance that it could just change its orbit and crash into Earth without something else really massive coming along and changing the situation. The Moon is actually moving away from Earth at the rate of a few centimetres per year.

At what speed is this galaxy approaching the earth?

And that’s going to happen someday! The Andromeda galaxy is currently racing toward our Milky Way at a speed of about 70 miles (110 km) per second. Ultimately, the two galaxies will collide and merge.

How many stars are between Milky Way and Andromeda?

Stellar collisions. While the Andromeda Galaxy contains about 1 trillion (10 12) stars and the Milky Way contains about 300 billion (3×10 11), the chance of even two stars colliding is negligible because of the huge distances between the stars.

What is the distance between Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy?

Currently, Andromeda is about 2.5 million light-years away from the Milky Way. That’s about 25 times as far away as the Milky Way is wide. This is, obviously quite a distance, but is quite small considering the scale of the universe.

How large is the Milky Way in comparison with other galaxies?

We might think our Milky Way is large, but it’s a rather small galaxy compared to other galaxies. Milky Way is ‘only’ 100,000 light years in diameter and that is nothing compared to for example Hercules A, which is 1.5 million light years across.

Is the Milky Way Bigger than the Solar System?

The diameter of the Milky way varies although for the most part is ~ 100,000 light years. Therefore, the diameter of the Milky way is roughly 160,256,410 times as wide as the solar system, with a volume that’s 4.12 x 10^24 / 4.12 septillion times more massive.