Galaxy Named After Greek Princess (2024)

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Galaxy Named After Greek Princess? ›

Andromeda Galaxy (also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224) is a spiral galaxy located in the Andromeda constellation. The galaxy was named after the constellation which, in turn, was named after the mythical princess Andromeda, daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus, in Greek mythology.

They show the elegant spiral galaxy Andromeda, named after the mythical Greek princess known for her beauty. The Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31, lies 2 million light-years away, and is the closest large galaxy to our own Milky Way.

Named by ancient Greeks after the mythological Andromeda princess, the constellation contains the Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest full-fledged galaxy to our own Milky Way. Andromeda is one of 48 constellations described by the Ancient Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy in 150 AD in his famous work "The Almagest."

The galaxy's name stems from the area of Earth's sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda, which itself is named after the princess who was the wife of Perseus in Greek mythology. A visible light image of the Andromeda Galaxy.

Because it is such an easily observed feature in the night sky, it is impossible to say who discovered the Andromeda galaxy. However, Persian astronomer Abd al-rahman al-Sufi's The Book of Fixed Stars from the year 964 contains the first known report of the object.

The Milky Way gets its name from a Greek myth about the goddess Hera who sprayed milk across the sky. In other parts of the world, our galaxy goes by other names. In China it's called the “Silver River,” and in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa, it's called the “Backbone of Night.”

Andromeda is a constellation in the northern sky. It is named after the princess Andromeda in Greek mythology.

The ancient Greeks called them by their Greek god names, unsurprisingly: Jupiter was Zeus, Mercury was Hermes, and Venus was Aphrodite. The ancient Babylonians also named the planets after their deities: Jupiter was Marduk, Mercury was Nebo, and Venus was the goddess Ishtar.

The Greek name for the Milky Way (Γαλαξίας Galaxias) is derived from the Greek word for milk (γάλα, gala). One legend explains how the Milky Way was created by Heracles (Roman Hercules) when he was a baby.

Astronomers decided to continue naming the planets after Roman Gods with one exception - Uranus. Uranus was named after the Greek god of the sky. According to myth, he was the father of Saturn and the grandfather of Jupiter.

What is the new name for the Andromeda Galaxy? ›

The Andromeda Galaxy, also called Messier 31 or M31, is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. It is 2.5 million light years away from Earth and is the other major member of the Local Group, our local collection of galaxies.

Andromeda is a princess in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Cepheus, the king of Aethiopia (Ethiopia), and his wife, Cassiopeia. The most famous myth associated with Andromeda is the story of her rescue by the Greek hero Perseus, who saved her from being sacrificed to a sea monster.

The closest large spiral galaxy, Andromeda is the sister galaxy to our Milky Way. Both are gravitationally bound to each other, and are moving closer together at 3 million miles an hour. In about four billion years time, they may collide and merge to form one super-galaxy!

The nearby Andromeda Galaxy, also called M31, is bright enough to be seen by the naked eye on dark, moonless nights. The Andromeda Galaxy is the only other (besides the Milky Way) spiral galaxy we can see with the naked eye.

Galaxy Formation Continues

In our own local neighborhood of space, the Andromeda galaxy is headed toward the Milky Way for a possible future collision - many billions of years from now! Scientists today know that galaxies existed about one billion years after the Big Bang.

This image, captured with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is the largest and sharpest image ever taken of the Andromeda galaxy — otherwise known as M31. This is a cropped version of the full image and has 1.5 billion pixels. You would need more than 600 HD television screens to display the whole image.

HERA The Queen of Heaven and goddess of the air and starry constellations. The Milky Way was spilt from her breast and most of the other constellations placed in the heavens at her command.