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Andromeda: Bigger than we though?
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:20 am
by Orca
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:36 am
by orin stepanek
Nice find Orca! I guess that means Andromeda is even closer to the Milky way than first thought.
Orin
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:58 pm
by BMAONE23
It might even mean that there could be up to 5 times more visible matter than was previously thought. (or possibly that all galaxies have rural neighborhoods that give them even closer proximities than we thought)
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:41 pm
by Orca
That actually makes sense...since galaxies rotate as if they are much larger than they appear (the "outer" arms rotating as quickly as the central bulge).
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:10 am
by harry
Hello All
I cannot open the above link
What is the distance to andromeda?
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:00 pm
by Orca
Harry, the Andromeda galaxy is about 2x10^19 km away. At least, that's what my physics text book says. And it cost me 150 bucks, so it
better be right! Yaarrr!
The question is: is that the distance from our location in the Milky Way to the nearest part of Andromeda? Or is that the center of our galaxy to the center of our neighbor? I mean, it's not as though a galaxy is just a "point."
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:09 pm
by BMAONE23
Here is a quote from the link:
"Also known as M31, Andromeda is located only about 2.5 million light-years from Earth, making it our nearest galactic neighbor."
Now I don't know weather that is to the edge or the center. But if it is 1MLY diameter, then it could be .5MLY closer than previously thought.
This would place M31 a between cool 2MLY and 2.55MLY away from Earth.
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:04 pm
by orin stepanek
I wonder how much sooner that will cause the interaction of the Milky Way with Andromeda than was previously thought to be?:lol:
Orin
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:04 pm
by Doum
I'd say aound 20 % sooner.
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:27 pm
by Orca
I'll free up my calendar...
Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:59 am
by Doum
Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 6:23 pm
by orin stepanek
I'm going to take pictures!
Orin
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:01 am
by harry
Hello All
I took out my measuring tape and found that it was 2.1 MYrs.
Other than that
Andromeda Galaxy (M31): The Heat Is On in Andromeda's Center
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/m31/
Distance Estimate About 2 million light years
Release Date June 05, 2006
Give or take a few feet.
While on this subject >>>>>>>>>>
The Double Nucleus of M31
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961011.html
Subsequent ground-based observations have led to speculation that indeed two nuclei exist, are moving with respect to each other, that one nucleus is slowly tidally disrupting the other, and that one nucleus may be the remains of smaller galaxy "eaten" by M31
The other theory is that Black holes are formed in the spiral arms and group together to form a larger black hole and by the time it reaches the centre it can have some influence and possible show up as a secondary nuclei. Just a thought.
M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961009.html
M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
Credit: The Electronic Universe Project
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950724.html
Southwest Andromeda
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010917.html
It seems that the distance has been about 2 Myrs for the last 20 years.
Some links have it at 2.5 Myrs
I had a book about 20 yrs ago it had it at 2.1MYrs.