Which are the galaxies that are near the Milky Way?

At present, the closet known galaxy to the Milky Way is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy – aka. the Canis Major Overdensity. This stellar formation is about 42,000 light years from the galactic center, and a mere 25,000 light years from our Solar System. read more

Nearby dwarf galaxies are still being discovered, and galaxies located behind the central plane of the Milky Way are extremely difficult to discern. It is possible for any galaxy to mask another located beyond it. read more

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is the closest spiral galaxy to us, and though it’s gravitationally bound to the Milky Way, it’s not the closest galaxy by far – being 2 million light years away. Andromeda is currently approaching our galaxy at a speed of about 110 kilometers per second. read more

Astronomers have found one of the Universe's biggest superclusters of galaxies near the Milky Way. The Vela supercluster, which had previously gone undetected as it was hidden by stars and dust in the Milky Way, is a huge mass that influenced the motion of our Galaxy. read more