Andromeda Galaxy

(Newser) - If our galaxy were a boxer, it would have just slipped down a few weight classes—and would be no match for our neighbor Andromeda. New research has revealed that the Milky Way, while still mind-bogglingly vast, is only around half the weight of the Andromeda galaxy, which is about...

(Newser) - Our Milky Way is on a crash course with the (relatively) nearby Andromeda galaxy, and the two are scheduled to smash into each other—in just 4 billion years, reports the Christian Science Monitor . Actually, the two galaxies will collide three times over the following 2 billion years, eventually forming...

(Newser) - The vast Andromeda galaxy has been growing by gobbling up neighboring galaxies, reports the BBC. Astronomers mapping the galaxy—at 2.5 million light years away, the Milky Way's closest neighbor—discovered stars within that they believe to be the remnants of dwarf galaxies consumed by Andromeda. The galaxy is...

(Newser) - A study of the Milky Way using radio telescopes scattered across the US paints a new and dramatically different picture of our galaxy, reports Space.com. Our spiral-shaped galaxy is not only spinning faster than previously thought, it has 50% greater mass, with two hitherto unknown spiral arms where many...