This is a list of known
galaxies
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System ...
within 3.8
megaparsecs
The parsec (symbol: pc) is a unit of length used to measure the large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System, approximately equal to or (au), i.e. . The parsec unit is obtained by the use of parallax and trigonometry, and ...
(12.4 million
light-year
A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...
s) of the
Solar System
The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
, in ascending order of heliocentric distance, or the distance to the Sun.
This encompasses about 50 major
Local Group
The Local Group is the galaxy group that includes the Milky Way.
It has a total diameter of roughly , and a total mass of the order of .
It consists of two collections of galaxies in a "dumbbell" shape: the Milky Way and its satellites form ...
galaxies, and some that are members of neighboring
galaxy groups, the
M81 Group
The M81 Group is a galaxy group in the constellations Ursa Major and Camelopardalis that includes the galaxies Messier 81 and Messier 82, as well as several other galaxies with high apparent brightnesses. The approximate center of the group is ...
and the
Centaurus A/M83 Group, and some that are currently not in any defined galaxy group.
The list aims to reflect current knowledge: not all galaxies within the 3.8 Mpc radius have been discovered. Nearby
dwarf galaxies
A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of about 1000 up to several billion stars, as compared to the Milky Way's 200–400 billion stars. The Large Magellanic Cloud, which closely orbits the Milky Way and contains over 30 billion stars, is so ...
are still being discovered, and galaxies located behind the central plane of the
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...
are extremely difficult to discern. It is possible for any galaxy to mask another located beyond it.
Intergalactic distance measurements are subject to large uncertainties. Figures listed are composites of
many measurements, some of which may have had their individual error bars tightened to the point of no longer overlapping with each other.
List
See also
*
Lists of astronomical objects
This is a list of lists, grouped by type of astronomical object.
Solar System
* List of Solar System objects
* List of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System
* List of Solar System objects most distant from the Sun
* List of So ...
*
List of galaxies
The following is a list of notable galaxies.
There are about 51 galaxies in the Local Group (see list of nearest galaxies for a complete list), on the order of 100,000 in the Local Supercluster, and an estimated 100 billion in all of the obs ...
*
List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs
This list covers all known stars, brown dwarfs, and sub-brown dwarfs within of the Sun. So far, 131 such objects have been found, of which only 22 are bright enough to be visible without a telescope. The visible light needs to reach or excee ...
*
List of spiral galaxies
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Portal bar, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Science
Nearest galaxies
nearest galaxies
nearest galaxies