Watch The Future Of The Milky Way Documentary Online


The Milky Way Galaxy belongs to the Local Group, a smaller group of 3 large and over 30 small galaxies, and is the second largest (after the Andromeda Galaxy M31) but perhaps the most massive member of this group.

M31, at about 2.9 million light years, is the nearest large galaxy, but a number of faint galaxies are much closer: Many of the dwarf Local Group members are satellites or companions of the Milky Way. The two closest neighbors, both already mentioned, have only recently been discovered: The nearest of all, discovered in 2003, is an already almost disrupted dwarf galaxy, the Canis Major Dwarf, the nucleus of which is about 25,000 light-years away from us and about 45,000 light-years from the Galactic Center. Second comes SagDEG at about 88,000 light years from us and some 50,000 light years from the Galactic Center.

These two dwarfs are currently in close encounters with our Galaxy and in sections of their orbits situated well within the volume ocupied by our Milky Way. They are followed in distance by the more conspicuous Large and Small Magellanic Cloud, at 179,000 and 210,000 light years, respectively.

Enjoy this Discovery Channel Documentary about the past, present and the future of our galaxy.

Copyright: Discovery Channel

Autoplay Quality set to: LOWEST QUALiTY [CHANGE]