What is the nearest galaxy?
You’re all wrong. The closest galaxy to the Milky Way (our Galaxy) lies within the Milky Way itself! The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is about 42,000 light years from the galactic center, and a mere 25,000 light years from us (which puts it closer to us than the center of our own galaxy, which is 30,000 light years away from the Solar System). The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy was discovered in 2003 when astronomers analyzed infrared images of the Milky Way. Infrared images allow astronomers to see through the gas an dust that are part of the galactic disk. Canis Major has a lot of M-Dwarf stars – cool, red stars that shine brightly in the infrared – that stick out in infrared images. The Milky Way became the size it is now by eating up other galaxies like Canis Major, and it continues to do so today. Stars from the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy are already part of the Milky Way, making the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way part of the Milky Way itself. Its on the small size for a galaxy, and contains
