What is the Andromeda Galaxy?
outr solar system is one of only millions in OUR galaxy, the milky way. The Andromeda galaxy is the spiral galaxy that is closest to our Milky Way. It too is composed of millions of solar systems. And the milky way and the andromeda galaxy are only two of BILLIONS of galaxies in the Universe Andromeda is actually M31, not M33.
The Andromeda Galaxy is the Milky Way’s sister galaxy. It is located 2 million light years away from Earth. The Andromeda Galaxy has more stars than the Milky Way, a total of about 1 trillion, in comparison to our 200 – 400 billion. However, recent measurements suggest that the Milky Way may in fact be more massive, with a larger dark matter halo. Mass estimates for the Andromeda Galaxy are in the neighborhood of 7.1 × 1011 solar masses.