Why is it called the Milky Way? The Milky Way gets its name from a Greek myth about the goddess Hera who sprayed milk across the sky. In other parts of the world, our galaxy goes by other names. In China...
Can we see the Andromeda Galaxy from Earth? The nearby Andromeda Galaxy, also called M31, is bright enough to be seen by the naked eye on dark, moonless nights. The Andromeda Galaxy is the only other (besides the Milky Way) spiral...
What is special about the constellation Andromeda? Its most notable feature is the great Andromeda Galaxy, one of the nearest galaxies to Earth and one of the few galaxies visible to the unaided eye. Andromeda is named after the princess of...
How many black holes does the Andromeda galaxy have? New observations suggest a black hole 100,000 times the mass of the Sun lurks in the center of a globular cluster of the Andromeda Galaxy. What galaxy has no black hole? M33:...
Does the Andromeda galaxy contain life? Can the Andromeda Galaxy support life? Since we can’t yet say for certain whether there are any other stars in our own galaxy that host life, it is even harder to say whether there might...
What is special about the Triangulum Galaxy? With the D25 isophotal diameter of 18.74 kiloparsecs (61,100 light-years), the Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way. It is one...
How long would it take to get to the Andromeda Galaxy from Earth? Although it may be one of the closest galaxies to our own, since the Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light years distant it would take 2.5 million years...
Are there other solar systems in Milky Way? The Short Answer: Our planetary system is the only one officially called “solar system,” but astronomers have discovered more than 3,200 other stars with planets orbiting them in our galaxy. How many other...
Does Andromeda Galaxy have planets? In 2009, the first planet may have been discovered in the Andromeda Galaxy. This was detected using a technique called microlensing, which is caused by the deflection of light by a massive object. Is Andromeda bigger...
How many planets support life in the Milky Way? Three (Venus, Earth, and Mars) out of eight planets might be able to support life. Based on recent discoveries of planets outside of our Solar System, it was estimated that 1 in...