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The AAS meeting is throwing up some interesting astronomy stories this week. ABC.net.au have an article about the Andromeda galaxy (M31) which is the furthest things you can see with the un-aided eye. It is about 2.9 million light years away from our galaxy, the Milky Way.

According to the article, recent observations using the W.M. Keck telescope, show that the galaxy is actually about 220,000 light years in diameter, making it up to three times larger than previously thought. I would say it was less than two times big as I was under the impression that the Andromeda galaxy was a bit larger than the Milky Way which is 100,000 light years in diameter.

Posted in astro blog by Stuart on Wednesday 01st Jun 2005 (10:29 UTC) | Add a comment | Permalink

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