Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Muskan Arora
Chinese astronomers have compiled the most comprehensive catalogue to date of the Andromeda Galaxy, known as Messier 31 (M31), utilizing data from China's Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and other astronomical facilities.
According to a report by India Today, their meticulous work has led to the calculation of the Andromeda Galaxy's mass based on its rotation curve, revealing a staggering figure of 1.14 trillion times the mass of our sun.
Situated approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth, the Andromeda Galaxy is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, belonging to the Local Group cluster. It is a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter of around 200,000 light-years.
Chinese astronomers have significantly advanced our understanding of the Andromeda Galaxy by creating the most detailed rotation curve ever made for it, extending across a vast region within 407,600 light-years.
The rotation curve is crucial for determining the galaxy's mass distribution, providing insights into its overall structure and composition, and contributing to our understanding of galactic dynamics.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured nearly 7,400 exposures of the Andromeda Galaxy, creating a mosaic image that reveals over 100 million stars and thousands of star clusters within its disk.
The latest discovery underscores the Andromeda Galaxy's similarities with the Milky Way, including its size and structure, enriching our knowledge of galactic dynamics.
The collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda is expected in about 4 billion years, resulting in the formation of a new merged galaxy, highlighting the dynamic nature of our cosmic neighbourhood.