What are the neighboring galaxies of the Milky Way?

The Milky Way has two companion galaxies (satellite systems): large magellanic cloud and small magellanic cloud. Galaxies opposite to the Milky Way are called extragalactic galaxies.

The Milky Way, Andromeda and Triangle Galaxy are three main galaxies in the local galaxy group, which has about 50 galaxies and is a part of local supercluster.

The Milky Way is surrounded by dwarf galaxies in some local galaxy groups, the largest of which is large magellanic cloud with a diameter of 2 1 100 million light years, and the smallest are Carina dwarf, Tianlong dwarf and Lion dwarf, all of which are only 500 light years in diameter (not as big as the Tarantula Nebula).

Other galaxies around the Milky Way are the Small Magellanic Cloud, the nearest is the Canine Dwarf, followed by the Sagittarius Dwarf, the Ursa Dwarf, the Auriga Dwarf, the sextant Dwarf, the Celestial Dwarf and the Leo Dwarf.

Extended data

The disk diameter of the Milky Way is estimated to be 98,000 light years, and the distance from the sun to the center of the Milky Way is about 26,000 light years. The center of the disc protrudes outward.

The center of the Milky Way has a huge mass and a dense structure, so it is suspected that there are supermassive black holes in it, because many galaxies are considered to have supermassive black holes in their cores.

Like many typical galaxies, the speed of celestial bodies orbiting the center of the Milky Way is not determined by the distance from the center and the distribution of the mass of the Milky Way. After leaving the core bulge or at the periphery, the typical velocity of a star is between 2 10 and 240 km/s. So the period of these stars orbiting the Milky Way is only related to the length of their orbits. This is different from the solar system. Different distances have different orbital speeds.

The rod-like structure of the Milky Way is about 27,000 light years long and spans between the sun and the center of the Milky Way at an angle of 4410. Mainly composed of red stars, mostly elderly stars.

Each spiral arm of the inferred and observed spiral arm structure of galaxies is given a corresponding number (just like the spiral arms of all spiral galaxies), which can be divided into 100 segments.

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