Cosmic Scale
Local Group
Our group of 80+ galaxies · You are here
How big is Local Group?
Local Group is about 10 million light-years across.
See Local Group in 3D, at true scale
The Local Group is our galactic neighbourhood: more than 80 galaxies bound together by gravity, dominated by the Milky Way and Andromeda, with Triangulum a distant third and the rest mostly dwarfs.
At a glance
| Diameter | 10 million light-years |
|---|---|
| Mass | 3.98 × 10⁴² kg |
| Diameter compared with Earth | 7.4 × 10¹⁵ × Earth |
| Members | 80+ galaxies |
| Big members | Milky Way, Andromeda, Triangulum |
Good to know
- Most of its members are dwarf galaxies, many of them faint enough that new ones are still being discovered.
- It is falling toward the Virgo Cluster, and with it toward the Great Attractor.
- Unlike the universe at large, the group is bound: its galaxies will not be carried apart by expansion.
- Next smaller: IC 1101 · 4 million light-years
- Next larger: Virgo Cluster · 14 million light-years