List of Nearest Galaxies

List Of Nearest Galaxies

What follows is a list of all known galaxies within 3.6 megaparsecs (11.7 million light-years) of Earth, in order of proximity to Earth (see caveat below).

3.6 Mpc was chosen as a cut off point because this is the distance approximately to the centers of the next two large galaxy groups - the M81 Group and the Centaurus A/M83 Group. This vast spherical region of space centered on the Earth is mostly empty but encompasses all 50 or so Local Group galaxies and the closer members of several nearby galaxy groups as well as a few isolated galaxies that do not appear to be part of any defined group.

However:

• The list is incomplete. Nearby dwarf galaxies are still being discovered. Even large 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.
• The list uses recently published distances, but they should not be taken as final. Intergalactic distance measurements, like most measurements, entail error bars. 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.
• The distances given are measured from Earth. A satellite galaxy of the Milky Way on Earth's side of the galaxy may well be listed as closer than one on the far side which is actually orbiting closer in to the Galactic core.
• A galaxy is an immense object. The distances from the closest edge – an ill-defined spot in itself – to the galactic core spans thousands, possibly up to a quarter million, lightyears. The distance estimates, therefore, are merely to some spot within the galaxies.

To get a sense of perspective, all the 'nearby' items on this list are thousands or millions of light years away. In comparison, the Moon is about one light second away (roughly 0.000000032 or 3.2×10−8 light years) and the Sun about 8 light minutes away (roughly 0.000015 or 1.5×10−5 light years).