The Universe within 5 million Light Years
The Local Group of Galaxies

The Local Group
Zoom In Contents page Zoom Out
* Number of large galaxies within 5 million light years = 3
* Number of dwarf galaxies within 5 million light years = 46
* Number of stars within 5 million light years = 700 billion

About the Map

The Milky Way is one of three large galaxies belonging to the group of galaxies called the Local Group which also contains several dozen dwarf galaxies. Most of these galaxies are depicted on the map, although most dwarf galaxies are so faint, that there are probably several more waiting to be discovered.

Data and Catalogs
A list of local group galaxies There are at least 45 galaxies in the local group plus several more lying on on the borders. Here is a list of all the known members of the local group of galaxies.

Some of the galaxies in the Local Group

Shown below are four of the galaxies in the Local Group. The Triangulum galaxy (left) is a spiral galaxy and the third largest galaxy in the local group, it contains 50 billion stars. NGC 147 (top centre) is a dwarf elliptical galaxy and IC 10 (top right) is a dwarf irregular galaxy, they both contain tens of millions of stars. NGC 3109 (bottom right) is another dwarf irregular galaxy of several hundred million stars and it is also the largest member of a small sub-group of galaxies within the Local Group.

Digitized Sky Survey image Digitized Sky Survey images

Contents Page