The Large Magellanic Cloud is closest at a distance of 52,000 parsecs. next is the Small Magellanic Cloud at 63,000 parsecs, followed by the Draco and Ursa Minor dwarf elliptical galaxies at distances of 67,000 parsecs and the Sculptor System at 85,000 parsecs. There are also the Fornax, and Leo I and II systems at distances of 170,000 and 230,000 parsecs respectively.
The nearest large galaxy beyond this local system near the Milky Way, is The Andromeda Galaxy at 670,000 parsecs with its system of galaxies ( NGC 221, NGC 205); and the Triangulum Galaxy, M33, and its system of galaxies (NGC 147, NGC 185, NGC 6822 and IC 1613) at a distance of 730,000 parsecs.
Name Coordinates B1950 Type D(kpc) Mv Vo(km/s) M31 NGC 224 00 40.0 +40 59 Sb 725 -21.1 -299 Galaxy 17 42.4 -28 55 Sbc -20.6 M33 NGC 598 01 31.1 +30 24 Sc 795 -18.9 -180 LMC 05 24.0 -69 48 Irr 49 -18.1 270 IC 10 00 17.7 +59 01 Irr 820 -17.6 -343 NGC 6822 DDO 209 19 42.1 -14 56 Irr 540 -16.4 -49 M32 NGC 221 00 40.0 +40 36 E2 725 -16.4 -205 NGC 205 00 37.6 +41 25 E5 725 -16.3 -239 SMC 00 51.0 -73 06 Irr 58 -16.2 163 NGC 3109 DDO 236 10 00.8 -25 55 Irr 1260 -15.8 403 NGC 185 00 36.2 +48 04 E3 620 -15.3 -208 IC 1613 DDO 8 01 02.2 +01 51 Irr 765 -14.9 -236 NGC 147 DDO 3 00 30.5 +48 14 E4 589 -14.8 -193 Sextans A DDO 75 10 08.6 -04 28 Irr 1450 -14.4 325 Sextans B DDO 70 09 57.4 +05 34 Irr 1300 -14.3 301 WLM DDO 221 23 59.4 -15 45 Irr 940 -14.0 -116 Sagittarius 18 51.9 -30 30 dE7 24 -14.0 140 Fornax 02 37.8 -34 44 dE3 131 -13.0 53 Pegasus DDO 216 23 26.1 +14 28 Irr 759 -12.7 -181 And VII Cas Dw 23 24.1 +50 25 dE3 760 -12.0 -307 Leo I DDO 74 10 05.8 +12 33 dE3 270 -12.0 285 Leo A DDO 69 09 56.5 +30 59 Irr 692 -11.7 +26 And II 01 13.5 +33 09 dE3 680 -11.7 -188 And I 00 43.0 +37 44 dE0 790 -11.7 -380 And VI Peg Dw 23 49.2 +24 18 dE3 775 -11.3 -354 SagDIG 19 27.9 -17 47 Irr 1150 -11.0 -79 Antlia 10 01.8 -27 05 dE3 1150 -10.7 361 Sculptor 00 57.6 -33 58 dE 78 -10.7 107 And III 00 32.6 +36 12 dE6 760 -10.2 -355 Leo II DDO 93 11 10.8 +22 26 dE0 230 -10.2 76 Cetus 00 23.6 -11 19 dE4 775 -10.1 Sextans 10 10.6 -01 24 dE4 90 -10.0 224 Phoenix 01 49.0 -44 42 Irr 390 -9.9 56 LGS 3 01 01.2 +21 37 Irr/dE 760 -9.7 -277 Tucana 22 38.5 -64 41 dE5 900 -9.6 Carina 06 40.4 -50 55 dE4 87 -9.2 223 And V 01 07.3 +47 22 dE 810 -9.1 -403 Ursa Minor DDO 199 15 08.2 +67 23 dE5 69 -8.9 -250 Draco DDO 228 17 19.2 +57 58 dE3 76 -8.6 -289 .............................................................. Probable additional Local Group members: Aquarius 20 44.2 -13 01 Irr 950: -131 IC 5152 21 59.6 -51 32 Irr 1600: +121 ..............................................................
Copyright (C) 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
Return to Ask the Astronomer.