Local Group

The term "The Local Group" was introduced by Edwin Hubble in Chapter VI of his 1936 book The Realm of the Nebulae. There, he described it as "a typical small group of nebulae which is isolated in the general field" and delineated, by decreasing luminosity, its members to be M31, Milky Way, M33, Large Magellanic Cloud, Small Magellanic Cloud, M32, NGC 205, NGC 6822, NGC 185, IC 1613 and NGC 147. He also identified IC 10 as a possible part of the Local Group. == Component galaxies ==

Clickable map Image:Local_Group.svg|frame|center|Map of the local universe within 5 million light-years from Earth, including the Local Group and other nearby galaxies (clickable map) rect 392 53 405 72 ly circle 318 239 20 Milky Way rect 345 256 375 284 Milky Way circle 383 310 5 NGC 6822 rect 348 292 380 322 NGC 6822 circle 177 27 10 Sextans B rect 155 17 215 35 Sextans B circle 130 37 10 Sextans A rect 95 25 155 45 Sextans A circle 100 144 5 NGC 3109 rect 65 130 100 160 NGC 3109 circle 109 149 5 Antlia Dwarf rect 109 146 145 175 Antlia Dwarf circle 314 119 5 Leo A rect 280 97 340 125 Leo A circle 315 210 5 Leo I (dwarf galaxy) rect 280 180 315 205 Leo I (dwarf galaxy) rect 320 180 335 220 Leo II (dwarf galaxy) circle 349 213 5 Canes Dwarf rect 350 195 400 223 Canes Dwarf circle 310 350 15 Phoenix Dwarf rect 275 325 335 375 Phoenix Dwarf circle 265 415 15 Tucana Dwarf rect 215 395 275 445 Tucana Dwarf circle 392 445 5 Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte rect 360 435 392 455 Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte circle 370 410 5 Cetus Dwarf rect 345 395 390 430 Cetus Dwarf circle 395 373 10 IC 1613 rect 390 373 420 400 IC 1613 rect 381 335 393 357 SagDIG rect 430 450 480 475 SagDIG rect 393 335 406 356 Aquarius Dwarf rect 450 425 510 450 Aquarius Dwarf circle 412 332 12 LGS 3 rect 465 405 510 425 LGS 3 circle 460 361 21 Pegasus Dwarf rect 485 370 540 405 Pegasus Dwarf poly 440 282 455 260 511 259 493 285 Andromeda Galaxy rect 484 280 550 305 Andromeda Galaxy circle 417 304 2 Triangulum Galaxy rect 400 321 480 340 Triangulum Galaxy circle 417 254 15 NGC 185 rect 440 185 480 211 NGC 185 rect 432 237 447 260 NGC 147 rect 480 195 508 225 NGC 147 poly 450 264 434 265 431 280 442 280 M110 rect 508 205 540 225 M110 circle 461 229 17 IC 10 rect 493 241 525 256 IC 10 rect 524 305 550 323 M32 circle 394 272 14 Andromeda II rect 500 345 515 360 Andromeda II rect 427 279 438 294 Andromeda III rect 518 345 530 360 Andromeda III rect 438 282 450 294 Andromeda I rect 557 345 570 360 Andromeda I List ==Structure==

Streams • Magellanic Stream, a stream of gas being stripped off the Magellanic Clouds due to their interaction with the Milky Way • Monoceros Ring, a ring of stars around the Milky Way that is proposed to consist of a stellar stream torn from the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy • Virgo Stream, a stream formed from a dwarf galaxy. • Helmi Stream == Future ==

conception of the collision using computer-generated imagery The galaxies of the Local Group are likely to merge together under their own mutual gravitational attractions over a timescale of tens of billions of years into a single elliptical galaxy, with the coalescence of Andromeda and the Milky Way being the predominant event in this process. There is debate over whether ellipticity might be the immediate structure of the combined galaxy right after the collision or whether ellipticity might only emerge after a theoretical intermediate period of retaining a spiraling structure directly following the collision. Some even theorize a permanent superspiral or a transition toward a more lenticular galaxy, rather than a more elliptical or spiraled distribution, as the future of the Local Group's galactic merger. == Location ==