Andromeda constellation. Andromeda Galaxy: secrets of the nearest part of the Universe

Andromeda Galaxy or the Andromeda Nebula (M31, NGC 224) is a Sb-type spiral galaxy. This large galaxy closest to the Milky Way is located in the constellation Andromeda and, according to the latest data, is distant from us at a distance of 772 kiloparsecs (2.52 million light years). The plane of the galaxy is inclined to us at an angle of 15°, its apparent size is 3.2°, its apparent magnitude is +3.4m.

Observation history

The first written mention of the Andromeda Galaxy is contained in the Catalog of Fixed Stars by the Persian astronomer Al-Sufi (946), who described it as a “small cloud”. The first description of the object, based on observations using a telescope, was made by the German astronomer Simon Marius in 1612. When creating his famous catalog, Charles Messier listed the object under the designation M31, erroneously attributing the discovery to Marius. In 1785, William Herschel noted a faint red spot in the center of M31. He believed that the galaxy was the closest of all nebulae, and calculated the distance to it (completely unrealistic) as equivalent to 2000 times the distance between Sirius and Sirius.

In 1864, William Huggins, observing the spectrum of M31, discovered that it differed from the spectra of gas and dust nebulae. The data indicated that M31 consisted of many individual stars. Based on this, Huggins assumed the stellar nature of the object, which was confirmed in subsequent years.

In 1885, the supernova SN 1885A, known in the astronomical literature as S Andromedae, exploded in the galaxy. In the entire history of observations, this is so far only one such event recorded in M31.

The first photographs of the galaxy were taken by Welsh astronomer Isaac Roberts in 1887. Using his own small observatory in Sussex, he photographed M31 and determined the object's spiral structure for the first time. However, at that time it was still believed that M31 belonged to our Galaxy, and Roberts mistakenly believed that it was another solar system with forming planets.

The radial velocity of the galaxy was determined by the American astronomer Vesto Slipher in 1912. Using spectral analysis, he calculated that M31 was moving towards the Sun at a speed unheard of for known astronomical objects of that time: about 300 km/s.

Experts at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, analyzing the results of 10 years of observation of M31 using the orbiting Chandra Observatory, discovered that the glow of matter falling on the core of the Andromeda Galaxy was dim until January 6, 2006, when a flare occurred that increased the brightness of M31 in X-rays. range 100 times. Further, the brightness decreased, but still remained 10 times more powerful than before 2006.

General characteristics

The Andromeda Galaxy, like the Milky Way, belongs to the Local Group, and is moving towards at a speed of 300 km/s, thus it belongs to the objects having a violet shift. Having determined the direction of the Sun's movement across the Milky Way, astronomers found that the Andromeda Galaxy and our Galaxy are approaching each other at a speed of 100-140 km/s. Accordingly, the collision of two galactic systems will occur in approximately 3-4 billion years. If this happens, they will both most likely merge into one large galaxy. It is possible that our solar system will be thrown into intergalactic space by powerful gravitational disturbances. The destruction of the Sun and planets, most likely, will not occur during this catastrophic process.

Structure

The Andromeda Galaxy has 1.5 times the mass of the Milky Way and is the largest in the Local Group: based on data obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have found that it contains about a trillion stars. It has several dwarf satellites: M32, M110, NGC 185, NGC 147 and possibly others. Its extent is 260,000 light years, which is 2.6 times greater than the Milky Way.

However, some results indicate that the Milky Way contains more Dark Matter and therefore our galaxy may be the most massive in the Local Group.

Core

In the core of M31, as in many other galaxies (including the Milky Way), there is a candidate for supermassive black holes (SMBs). Calculations have shown that its mass exceeds 140 million solar masses. In 2005, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a mysterious disk of young blue stars surrounding a black hole. They orbit around a relativistic object, just like the planets around the Sun. Astronomers were puzzled by how such a donut-shaped disk could form so close to such a massive object. According to calculations, the monstrous tidal forces of the SBS should not allow gas and dust clouds to condense and form new stars. Further observations may provide a clue.

The discovery of this disk added another argument to the theory of the existence of black holes. Astronomers first discovered blue light in the core of M31 back in 1995 using the Hubble telescope. Three years later, the light was identified as a cluster of blue stars. It was only in 2005, using a spectrograph mounted on the telescope, that observers determined that the cluster consists of more than 400 stars that formed approximately 200 million years ago. The stars are grouped into a disk with a diameter of only 1 light year. Older and cooler red stars, previously discovered by Hubble, nest in the center of the disk. The radial velocities of the disk stars were calculated. Thanks to the gravitational influence of the black hole, it turned out to be record high: 1000 km/s (3.6 million kilometers per hour). At this speed you can fly around in 40 seconds globe or get from the moon in six minutes.

In addition to the black hole and the disk of blue stars, there are other objects in the galactic core. In 1993, a double star cluster was discovered in the center of M31, which came as a surprise to astronomers, since the two clusters merge into one in a fairly short period of time: about 100 thousand years. According to calculations, the merger should have occurred many millions of years ago, but for strange reasons this did not happen. Scott Tremaine from Princeton University suggested that this could be explained by the fact that at the center of the galaxy there is not a double cluster, but a ring of old red stars. This ring may look like two clusters because we only see stars on opposite sides of the ring. Thus, this ring should be located at a distance of 5 light years from the black hole and surround a disk of young blue stars. The ring and the disk are turned to us with one side, which may indicate their interdependence. Studying the center of M31 using the XMM-Newton space telescope, a team of European researchers discovered 63 discrete X-ray sources. Most of them (46 objects) are identified with low-mass binary X-ray stars, while the rest are either neutron stars, or candidates for black holes in binary systems.

Other objects

About 460 globular clusters have been recorded in the galaxy. The most massive of them, Mayall II, also called G1, has a luminosity greater than that of any cluster in the Local Group, it is even brighter than Omega Centauri (the brightest cluster in the Milky Way). It is located at a distance of about 130 thousand light years from the center of the Andromeda galaxy and contains at least 300 thousand old stars. Its structure, as well as the stars belonging to different populations, indicate that this is most likely the core of an ancient dwarf galaxy that was once absorbed by M31. According to research, at the center of this cluster there is a black hole candidate with a mass of 20 thousand Suns. Similar objects also exist in other clusters:

In 2005, astronomers discovered completely new look star clusters. The three newly discovered clusters contain hundreds of thousands of bright stars - almost the same number as globular clusters. But what sets them apart from globular clusters is that they are much larger—several hundred light-years in diameter—and also that they are less massive. The distances between the stars in them are also much greater. Perhaps they represent a transitional class of systems between globular clusters and dwarf spheroids.

The galaxy contains the star PA-99-N2, which is orbited by an exoplanet - the first to be discovered outside the Milky Way.

Observations

The best time to observe the Andromeda Nebula is autumn-winter. In the dark village sky, the luminous diffuse oval M31 is seen naked eye next to ν And even not very experienced observers. It is the most distant object visible from Earth with the naked eye. Moreover, due to the finite speed of light, we see it as it was 2 and a half million years ago. Let's say, on Earth 2.5 million years ago there were no representatives modern look person! But we must not forget that according to the Special Theory of Relativity, there is no way to know what this galaxy looks like at the “present moment”, since what we see is the “present moment” for us.

Through binoculars, the galaxy is visible even in the overexposed sky of large cities. But her observations in amateur telescopes of medium aperture (150-200 mm) are usually disappointing. Even in the best sky and on a moonless night, the galaxy appears to be simply a huge glowing ellipsoid with blurry and increasingly dimmer edges and a bright core. An attentive observer will notice a hint of one or two encircling dust lanes on the northwestern (closest to us) edge of the galaxy and a slight local increase in brightness in the southwest (our neighbor's huge star-forming region). No other details, with the exception of two satellites - small elliptical galaxies M32 and M110, nothing resembling the colorful photographs and illustrations of popular publications!

Unfortunately, these are the characteristics of human night vision. Our eyes, for all their phenomenal light sensitivity, are not capable, like modern photodetectors, of accumulating light during a long (sometimes hours!) exposure. In addition, the night sensitivity of our eyes is achieved, among other things, by the sacrifice of color recognition - “at night all cats are gray!” - and a sharp decrease in visual acuity. So it turns out that when observing diffuse objects deep space only vague light gray images are visible on a dark gray background. Added to this is the enormous size of the M31, which further obscures its contrasts and detail.

Messier 31 (NGC 224), or M31, is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Andromeda. Its angular diameter is 178 x 63 arcminutes, and its apparent magnitude is 3.4. From our planet to M31 is 2.9 million light years. Revealed coordinates according to Equinox 2000 data: 0 hours 41.8 minutes - right ascension; +41о 16′ - declination. Thus, Messier 31 can be monitored throughout the fall. This is the most famous celestial object from the Messier catalog. It is called the Andromeda Galaxy. It is huge and bright, visible to the naked eye.

M31 has its own satellite galaxies: M32 and M110, which are elliptical in shape. M32, or NGC 221, is closer to M31 than M110, which is classified as NGC 205. All belong to the Local Group of galaxies. It also includes the Triangulum Galaxy and the Milky Way. And the most famous photographs were performed using a Takahashi E-180 astrograph.

Although the object is included in the Messier catalog, it was first discovered by astronomer Al-Sufi in 964. But he believed that it was just a nebula. And only Edwin Hubble in 1923, exploring intergalactic distances, was able to establish the true nature of M31 as a galaxy.

Many advanced scientists believe that the diameter of M31 is 157,000 light years, and the distance to it does not exceed 2.57 million light years. According to rough estimates, the galaxy has a mass of 400 billion solar masses.

Galaxy core

In the core of M31 there is, according to calculations, a future supermassive black hole - a supermassive black hole. Its mass is more than 140 million solar masses. Around it in 2005, the Hubble telescope discovered a hitherto unknown disk of blue stars. They revolve around the SBS in the same way as the planets revolve around the Sun. It is still not yet known how this could happen.

In addition to these objects, the core contains other elements. In 1993, a double star cluster was discovered in the center of M31. This anomaly has puzzled advanced astronomers because it only takes 100,000 years for the two clusters to merge. According to preliminary calculations, their connection should have occurred approximately several million years ago, but for unknown reasons this did not happen.

The first explanation was put forward by scientist Scott Tremaine. He suggested that in the center of the galaxy there is not a double cluster, but an oval of old red stars. Since the stars are visible through a telescope on opposite sides of the ring, it could look like two clusters. Therefore, the ring should be located at a distance of five light years from the supermassive black hole and surround the entire disk of younger blue stars. Their interdependence is evidenced by the fact that they are turned to us with only one side.

Galaxy M31, described in the Messier catalog

A beautiful Andromeda belt nebula, which resembles a spindle in its shape. Messier examined it using various instruments, but could not recognize it as a star. It looks like two pyramids or light cones. The two light peaks are located at a distance of forty arc minutes from each other, despite the fact that the common base of the pyramids is 15’. Such a nebula was identified by Simon Marius and studied by various scientists. Le Gentil developed a drawing of the nebula, published in the Memoirs of the Academy on page 453 (dated 1759).

Additionally, Flammarion said that Messier added data on the M31 nebula to his copy of the catalog by hand: “I used different tools. Among them was a fine Gregorian telescope of thirty pounds, a 104x magnifier, and a large six-inch mirror.” It is safe to say that there are some stars in the center of this nebula. The light gradually dims until it disappears. The previous photos were taken with a 4.5 pound Newtonian telescope with a micrometer silk thread.

Technical details of the Andromeda Galaxy photograph

Object: M31

Other designations:NGC 224, Andromeda Galaxy

Object type:Spiral galaxy

Position:Bifrost Astronomical Observatory

Mount: Astro-Physics 1200GTO

Telescope:Hyperbolic astrograph TakahashiEpsilon 180

Camera: Canon EOS 550D (Rebel T2i) (Baader UV/IR filter)

Exposure: 8 x 300s, f/2.8, ISO 800

Original photo size:3454 × 5179 pixels (17.9 MP); 11.5″ x 17.3″ @ 300 dpi

Observational data physical characteristics Andromeda galaxy

The most distant object in space visible to the naked eye. The closest galactic object to us. A huge galaxy that will collide with Milky Way and will swallow him up. All these laurels are borne by the Andromeda galaxy M31 - the first discovered external galaxy in the world, and the most well studied.

The Andromeda spiral galaxy, formerly known as the Andromeda nebula or M31 (number 31 in the famous Messier catalogue) is the most famous of the “star islands”. In addition to the general attention characteristic of the next “nearest-big-coolest” space object, M31 also stands out for its scientific value. After all, there are few galaxies in which you can see millions of individual stars, even through . And there are even fewer that approach us at a speed of about 110 km/s, as Andromeda does.

In addition, for the time being, the image of our home, the Milky Way, was “drawn” from Andromeda. Our galaxy, although smaller in scope, is not much lighter, and M31 was perceived as a “mirror” of the Milky Way. With the development of astronomy, when scientists began to see and understand more, the myth dissipated. It turned out that Andromeda belongs to different subclasses of spiral galaxies, and the pattern of their arms is quite different. But they still have a lot in common - for example, a “passion” for absorbing their dwarf satellite galaxies. Their internal structure is also similar.

But first things first. In order to better imagine the image of Andromeda’s neighbor, let’s consider its main details - and in order not to get lost, let’s compare them with the parameters of our own galaxy.

Galaxy class

The Andromeda Galaxy is a typical Sb class galaxy according to the Hubble classification. This means that it looks like a spiral, with arm lines evenly distributed around a spherical bulge - the central bright part of the galaxy full of bright old stars. The Milky Way today is perceived as an SBbc class galaxy - a barred spiral galaxy. The difference between our “stellar island” and M31 lies precisely in the jumper - this part extends from the edges of the bulge and connects it to the arms.

You can see for yourself what scientists see. The image below consists of about 600 million pixels, and is the largest and most detailed image of M31 that spans the entire galaxy. The image resolution is 48327x12185px, and the size is 717.2 Mb. Best viewed in full screen mode!

What is true, there is evidence that Andromeda may also have a jumper. Evidence was provided by the infrared space exploration program 2MASS (from the English “2 Micron All-Sky Survey”, “study of the entire sky in the [light] range of 2 microns”). She showed that the bulge of the Andromeda galaxy, hidden by clouds from everything except infrared radiation, has a square shape, which is quite enough to be considered an SB class galaxy.

But even without taking into account the bridge, the Andromeda nebula differs from the Milky Way. The arms of its spiral are further apart than those of our galaxy. And although their lines rarely have a perfectly even shape, in the MZ1 galaxies some arms are highly distorted. These are “holes” from a smaller galaxy that flew through the disk of Andromeda. Such events are not uncommon for our neighbor - 10 billion years ago it was formed from several protogalaxies, and during its existence it absorbed at least three of its satellites.

« Andromeda Galaxy is the closest large galaxy in relation to our “home” - the Milky Way. Distance to Andromeda galaxy from Earth - approximately 2 million light years. Andromeda Galaxy, like our Milky Way, it is one of the spiral galaxies. Andromeda Galaxy- practically the only galaxy visible in the sky with the naked eye, due to its size and brightness. Andromedans- highly developed alien race from our neighbor Andromeda galaxy. Flying to Earth Andromedans using technologies that people do not yet possess.”

A light year is the distance that light travels through space during a year at a speed of 186,000 miles per second.

Galaxies are made up of dust, stars, planets and gas that are held together by gravity. Galaxies rotate very slowly. Astronomers believe that all or most of them have a very dense black hole at their center. Scientists know that such black holes exist. Andromeda and our galaxy.

Despite the fact that from us to Nebulae Andromeda about 2 million light years away, we can still see it with the naked eye during its exit from northern hemisphere. There are hundreds of billions of stars in this galaxy, but it looks like a blurry white area.

The first written mention of the Andromeda Galaxy dates back to 946 and is contained in the “Catalogue of Fixed Stars” by the Persian astronomer Al-Sufi, who described it as a “small cloud”.

The Andromeda nebula has a diameter of 220,000 light years, while the Milky Way is approximately 150,000. Astronomers believe that our neighbor is about twice as massive as the Milky Way.

Galaxies not only rotate, but also move in space. Most galaxies move away from each other, however, sometimes they move towards each other. Sometimes they are so close that they collide.

What happens when two galaxies collide?

Sometimes they pass through one another, and this is almost imperceptible, but this only happens when the galaxies are fast moving. If two slow-moving galaxies collide, they merge and form one huge galaxy.

On at the moment and our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy we move towards each other. The two galaxies are expected to collide in a few billion years (estimated to be 4 billion). Andromeda Galaxy moves much slower speed light and it will take, by our relative standards, a very long time before it reaches the Milky Way. As a result of the collision, two galaxies will merge into one very large galaxy (for example, Milky Medus), and the merger process will take more than a million years.

What does this mean for the Earth?

First of all, we note that astronomers are not sure that this collision will occur. But if you do, there will definitely be radical changes. Although it is quite possible that Andromeda galaxy will pass by the Milky Way. Scientists also express the opinion that Andromeda galaxy may have already merged with another galaxy in the past.

ANDROMEDIANS

In the Andromeda Galaxy The war has been going on for a long time. This war killed more than quadrillions of inhabitants and set the skies ablaze with how ferocious it was. Gigantic, ancient empires and extraterrestrial civilizations fought by blowing up stars and star clusters, destroying parts of the galaxy and rebuilding them in an instant. Some proxy wars were fought in the Ancient Milky Way, before humanity was on Earth, before dinosaurs walked the earth. When the dust settled, the ancient empires came to an agreement and, ultimately, an alliance. The warlike Galaxy evolved into a powerful military and, ultimately, political Union that has maintained galactic "peace" for centuries. This union is known as Andromeda Federation.

Then she arrived human race, to assume that the human race exists only on planet Earth is very stupid, since the human race is very ancient, we are one of the colonies, our development is carefully monitored and does not interfere, only protecting us from space invaders.

So, the United Republic of people, on their own spaceships, entered a massive galaxy in the multi-quintillion. They immediately began colonizing planets, terraforming uninhabited worlds and turning them into heavenly climates for their species.

Andromeda Federation concluded practical agreement with people that no one extraterrestrial civilization will not attack each other. This also includes trade, although with how developed both extraterrestrial civilizations, they can only trade things like entertainment and science, not goods or resources. Although tensions between the Federation and the Human Republic are high, the alliance between them remains.

Despite this, however, the borders between them are open, and tourists from both sides are allowed to visit both civilizations, within reason.

Like other “heavenly mentors” of earthlings, andromedans arrived on our planet, as a rule, in turning points history. This race practically does not manifest itself in any way; they try to help humanity unnoticed.

According to some reports, the last group Andromedans arrived on Earth in the 1940s and 50s to prevent development nuclear weapons on our planet. It is believed that the Andromedans prevented the beginning nuclear war on Earth seven times.

Andromedans were only observers until the 40s. twentieth century, but then they came into contact with the governments of certain countries. However, previously aliens left some esoteric knowledge that a number of people possessed secret societies of our planet. The most famous message from representatives of this race is the book “ Urantia».

There are reportedly five different DNA configurations Andromedans, arrived on Earth, and some of the aliens are not exactly friendly.

These aliens have physical body, reminiscent of human. There is a version that man called representatives of this particular race angels when he met them many centuries ago.

Andromedans They come into contact with people quite often. We know that they, like us, are divided into two sexes. But about how these creatures reproduce, what they feed their bodies with, etc. We don't know anything at all.

IN Old Testament and other ancient religious sources say that andromedans Both sexes had sexual intercourse with people in ancient times.

For earthlings andromedans are the most interesting race aliens, because it is she who influences us the most, and once shared her genes. For this reason andromedans care for humanity as if it were their offspring.

Types of humanoids

Among types of humanoids There are only two species.

Known to us andromedans according to anthropological characteristics they are divided into two humanoid type: White From the “Nordic” type (fair-skinned, blue-eyed blond) to the “Mediterranean” (light - brown hair and eyes; bronze-colored leather). Eastern type dark-haired, with Asian eyes, pale to dark brown skin.

Sami andromedans call themselves creatures " LI-A- “Life” (LI) and “aspiration” (A). Thus, the self-name of this race can be translated as “life-oriented.”

The beautiful spiral galaxy of Andromeda or the Andromeda nebula is the largest in the local group, which consists of the Milky Way, the Triangulum galaxy and Andromeda itself, they are connected to each other gravitationally.

It is simply huge in size; trillions of stars, dwarf satellite galaxies, globular clusters are spread over 260 thousand light years; scientists also discovered a new cluster of stars, different in appearance from the known ones and located in a halo (the invisible component of the galaxy). The scale of the nebula is impressive, it is 2.6 times larger than our Milky Way, the approximate mass is more than 800 billion of our Sun.

Acquaintance

Let's begin our acquaintance with the fact that the very first written mentions of the Andromeda galaxy, as a small cloud, were found in the astronomical tables of the Book of Fixed Stars, the famous Persian astronomer Al-Sufi, who lived and worked at the palace of Adud Ad-Daula in Isfahan, and The records date back to 964.

Object M31 - Andromeda Nebula. Drawing by C. Messier. Published 1807

More detailed description galaxy made German doctor and mathematician Simon Mayr, using a telescope to observe starry sky In December 1612, he was one of the first European astronomers to notice the Andromeda nebula.

The famous comet hunter, French astronomer Charles Messier, added the nebula to his famous catalog under the designation M 31.

Amateur astronomer from England William Huggins contributed, he suggested that M 31 contains large number individual stars, he made this conclusion in 1864, which was confirmed by further observations.

The Andromeda Galaxy delighted astronomers in 1885 when a single orange star, called S Andromedae, exploded in one of its brightest regions, making it the first star of its kind to be discovered outside the Milky Way. The remains of the explosion of a star, at a distance of 2,600,000 light years from us, were able to be observed in 1999, using the powerful Hubble Space Telescope.

The first images of the Andromeda nebula were obtained at the observatory, which was founded in 1885 by Isaac Roberts. It was thanks to his experiments using a special telescope to photograph celestial objects that photographs were taken in October 1887, in which the structure of the nebula, in the form of a spiral, could be clearly seen.

Thanks to Vesto Melvin Slipher, an excellent astronomer from America, science has learned at what radial velocity the Andromeda Galaxy moves. Back in 1913, it was he who, using spectral analysis, measured a value that is equal to 300 kilometers per second, precisely at this speed the galaxy is moving towards our Sun.

In 1999, the Chandra X-ray observatory was launched, which, while in space, transmits data to Earth. Thanks to research, they discovered that the Andromeda galaxy contains a much larger volume of cold gas than previously thought. This made it possible to find out more accurately the temperature, what the density is and how the interstellar gas moves in space.

Structure

The magnificent Andromeda Galaxy has not yet fully revealed its secrets. In 1998, scientists managed to understand what kind of blue glow was coming from the double core and discovered the source; it turned out to be a cluster consisting of blue stars and their number exceeded four hundred, but in fact there are probably more of them. The age of the stars is very impressive, although they are young for space; only more than two hundred million years ago they formed and grouped around a candidate for black holes.

Calculations have shown that the mass of the supermassive hole exceeds the solar one by one hundred and forty million times. Young stars, along with old ones, formed a kind of disk, its shape resembling a donut. At the same time, the old, red stars were located near the center, and the young ones scattered to the edges, and the radial speed of the stars was very high and equal to a thousand kilometers per second. The most interesting thing for scientists was that the stars revolve around a black hole, in much the same way as planets revolve around our star, so the mysterious disk, one light-year in diameter, still has many secrets.

Another cluster of stars located in the center of the Andromeda nebula raises no less questions. It is double, but for some unknown reason the merger did not occur, although according to all possible calculations made by scientists, it should have happened millions of years ago. According to the theory put forward by Canadian astrophysicist Scott Tremaine, most likely this is a disk surrounding a donut of young stars, and located about five light years away from the black hole. But this is still only an assumption; time will tell whether everything is really so.

The Andromeda Galaxy boasts its brightest cluster, Myall II, which was discovered in 1953 by two American astronomers: Nicholas Ulrich Mayall and Olin Jeuk Eggen. Located one hundred and thirty thousand light years from the center of the nebula, it is presumably itself the center of a small galaxy, which the Andromeda nebula once absorbed. This is indicated by more than one generation of stars, of which there are more than three hundred thousand, and there is even a candidate for black holes, which has a mass twenty thousand times greater than the Sun. Its size and brightness surpasses the famous Omega Centauri.

New clusters are of great interest to astronomers; they were discovered in the halo of the galaxy in 2005; their sizes are very large and reach hundreds of light years. But at the same time, between a huge number of stars, approximately hundreds of thousands, the distance is much greater than in globular clusters, this allows us to assert that the new clusters are in an intermediate state between a globular cluster and galaxies, having a spheroidal shape. The brightness of such clusters is quite low; they have virtually no star dust.

Satellite galaxies

First, let's define what satellite galaxies are and how many of them the Andromeda Galaxy has. From the definition it is clear that such galaxies have a much smaller mass and, accordingly, under the influence of a larger galaxy, or rather its gravity, are held in orbit nearby. The Andromeda nebula has about 36 such companion galaxies. All of them have a billion stars and many also have black holes. Very few satellites can withstand the influence of the larger galaxy; the rest merge with the main one, forming unified system, under the influence of gravity, transforming into very interesting structures, because there is an additional influence on the formation.
So, let's begin the Andromeda Nebula, summary, or rather an overview of the largest fellow travelers.

M 32
Galaxy

M 32 - is quite small in size, but is excellently observed from Earth as quite bright. It was discovered by an astronomer from France; Legentille first became acquainted with it in October 1749. The distance from Earth to it is about 2.5 million light years, the radius of this elliptical galaxy is 4000 light years. According to the calculations that scientists received, it became clear that M 32 was most likely spiral, but the tidal forces of Andromeda acted with such
power to completely suppress the process of sleeve formation.

M 110 - is larger in size than the previous galaxy, its radius is 5000 light years, the distance is about three million light years, and can also be observed from Earth.
These two galaxies are compact and quite large, and can be easily detected in any photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy.

NGC 185 is a rather interesting elliptical galaxy in which star formation has recently occurred. Active processes are still taking place in the core, releasing huge amounts of energy. A formation of gas and dust belonging to a supernova remnant was also discovered. It is located at a distance of just over two million light years from Earth. It was discovered in November 1787 by the famous English astronomer Herschel.

NGC 147 - another galaxy that Herschel discovered, although a little earlier, in September 1829. Located at a distance of 2.2 million light years from us, if you have a good telescope, you can observe the Earth.

Space neighbors

M 34 - a cluster containing about a hundred stars is located to the east of the nebula. The cluster is quite bright and beautiful and can be observed all year round in the constellation Perseus, 1400 sv away from us. years. It is approximately fourteen light years in size and 180 million years old. It was discovered by Giovanni Battista Godierna, an Italian astronomer, around 1654. During this period, he discovered the Triangulum galaxy or M 33.

M 33 - is located south of the nebula, in the constellation Triangulum, at a distance of approximately three million years. Spiral galaxy 50,000 light years across. One of the sleeves collected two hundred brightest stars hypergiants, the rarest type of star.

M 76 - an interesting nebula in the northeast, which consists of a white dwarf located in the center, and around it is an ionized shell of gas. The discovery took place in 1780 and belongs to the French astronomer Pierre Mechain. Observed in the constellation Perseus, located at a distance of 2500 light years.

Looking in the sky

Having read the varied and useful information, and having also found beautiful pictures on the Internet, naturally, there is a desire to go outside and find a beautiful galaxy in the night sky.

I don’t know whether I’ll disappoint you or not, but the Andromeda nebula from Earth looks like an ordinary dim star. The situation will be much better if you have binoculars, there is a chance to see a small speck in the form of an ellipse. Through a telescope you will see a larger spot, bright in the center and fading towards the edges. It will be possible to see M 32 and M 110. And if the diameter of the telescope is 25 cm, galactic tracks consisting of dust will also become visible.

If you haven’t changed your mind, then dress warmer, choose a darker night, and choose a more cheerful company. And we get out into the countryside, preferably further away so that there is light settlements did not interfere with his light. Most best period for observation, as experts say, this is autumn-winter. If you know where the North Star and the Cassiopeia asterism are located, then you can try to find it through them. We draw a segment from the North Star to Alpha Cassiopeia, mentally continue the line further and come up against a blurry oval, this is the Andromeda galaxy.

What's next

Scientists suggest that a collision of the Milky Way galaxies and the Andromeda nebula is possible, but how realistic this is is not clear.

We already know that the galaxy is moving towards the Sun with high speed 300 kilometers per second. Scientists were able to determine how our star moves along Milky Way, in which direction, and having received the data, they calculated that two galaxies are rushing at a speed of 140 kilometers per second towards each other, which should inevitably lead to a collision; according to calculations, this could happen in 4 billion years. It is logical to assume that instead of two small ones, you will get one, but large one, and there is a possibility that our system will simply be thrown into an unknown direction, but the planets will all survive.

In another scenario, earthlings will be able to observe a gradual absorption or merger, as they prefer, without any consequences.

But by that time, the inhabitants of the Earth will most likely be preoccupied with other problems, unless we move somewhere to another planet, around this time period our star will begin to turn into a red giant. Let's wait and see what happens next.

By the way, according to one version, our galactic neighbor Andromeda was formed from two galaxies that went through the same merger process; this event happened about three billion years ago.
One theory is that the Magellanic Clouds will merge with the Milky Way, approximately before the impact occurs. Andromeda.

Science does not stand still, new equipment is invented, new research methods are developed, stations are moving further into outer space and what was scientifically proven and justified yesterday will turn out to be wrong tomorrow. Theories and hypotheses put forward today are no longer considered in the light of constant discoveries a year later, losing their relevance.

New data is constantly being discovered, space is throwing up interesting riddles that humanity will have to solve. So, one can only envy astronomers, astrophysicists, cosmonauts and everyone involved, their lives definitely do not stand still.

And you don’t lag behind, raise your heads more often, bowed to the ground with problems and thoughts up - to where behind every foggy speck or point, billions and trillions of the most beautiful galaxies can be hidden, and maybe at this moment, somewhere out there, someone is looking into our side, simply admiring the magnificent blanket of stars.