But Andromeda isn't alone. It’s part of the Local Group, a cluster of more than 50 galaxies including the Milky Way, Triangulum, and numerous dwarf galaxies.

The Andromeda galaxy, our cosmic neighbor, is far more turbulent than previously thought. A new survey by the Hubble Space Telescope has mapped the chaotic history of Andromeda’s dwarf galaxy ...

When will the Milky Way collide with the Andromeda Galaxy? It's a common question because, for many years, astronomers have theorized that the two largest spiral galaxies in our cosmic ...

The Andromeda galaxy is also known as Messier 31. It is a spiral galaxy located about 2.5 million light-years from Earth. On a clear night, some stars of the galaxy can be seen from Earth.

The researchers observed Andromeda XXXV with the Hubble Space Telescope. “This type of galaxy was only discoverable around one system, the Milky Way, in the past,” Bell said.

The researchers found that two other nearby galaxies — the Large Magellanic Cloud and Messier 33 — could have significant influence on whether the Milky Way and Andromeda ultimately collide.

Located about 2.5 million light-years from Earth, Andromeda, which is also known as Messier 31m has been a focus of the space community for more than a century, with early observations dating back ...

Three possible encounter scenarios between our Milky Way and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. Top left: Galaxies M81 and M82. Top right: NGC 6786, a pair of interacting galaxies.

So, while we don't have a definitive answer about whether or not the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will one day merge, we at least know that there are other possibilities out there.

Andromeda XXXV contains an estimated 20,000 Suns worth of stars and lies about half a million light-years from the center of the Andromeda Galaxy, or about three times the width of M31 itself.

In this combination of images from NASA/ESA shows three future scenarios for the Milky Way and Andromeda encounter. Top left: Galaxies bypass at 1 million light-year separation.