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Andromeda Galaxy

TThe Andromeda Galaxy (also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224; older texts often called it the Andromeda Nebula) is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. The Andromeda Galaxy is easily visible to the naked eye in a moderately dark sky, though such a sky is available only in smaller towns and isolated areas reasonably far from population centers and sources of light pollution. It appears quite small without a telescope because only the central part is bright enough to be visible, but the full angular diameter of the galaxy is seven times that of the full moon.

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Space & Time News

April 28, 2026

A group of undergraduate students pulled off something remarkable: they built their own dark matter detector and used it to probe one of physics’ biggest mysteries. Working with limited resources but plenty of creativity, they designed a ...
A major international effort has produced an ultra-precise measurement of the Universe’s expansion rate, confirming it’s faster than early-Universe models predict. By linking multiple distance-measuring techniques, scientists ruled out simple ...
Scientists have proposed a surprising new way to detect gravitational waves—by observing how they change the light emitted by atoms. These waves can subtly shift photon frequencies in different directions, leaving behind a detectable signature. ...
Earth’s nights are steadily getting brighter overall, but the changes vary dramatically by region. Rapid urban growth is lighting up countries like China and India, while parts of Europe are dimming due to energy-saving efforts and new lighting ...
Planetary exploration may be about to get a major speed boost. Researchers tested a semi-autonomous robot that can move from rock to rock, analyzing each without waiting for human instructions. The system completed missions up to three times faster ...
A new concept suggests SpaceX’s Starship could revolutionize a future mission to Uranus, one of the solar system’s most overlooked planets. By refueling in orbit and helping slow the spacecraft on arrival, it could cut travel time nearly in ...
A mysterious spike of platinum buried deep in Greenland’s ice has long fueled theories of a catastrophic comet or asteroid strike 12,800 years ago—possibly triggering a sudden return to icy conditions known as the Younger Dryas. But new research ...
Mars didn’t always look like the barren world we see today. Over billions of years, the Sun’s solar wind stripped away much of its atmosphere, helping transform it from a warmer, wetter planet ...
Scientists have proposed a surprising connection between solar flares and earthquakes. When solar activity disturbs the ionosphere, it may generate electric fields that penetrate fragile fracture zones in Earth’s crust. If a fault is already ...
NASA’s Perseverance rover has just made history by driving across Mars using routes planned by artificial intelligence instead of human operators. A vision-capable AI analyzed the same images and terrain data normally used by rover planners, ...
Hidden lava tunnels on the Moon and Mars could one day shelter human explorers, offering natural protection from radiation and space debris. A European research team has unveiled a bold new mission concept that uses three different robots working ...
Low-Earth orbit is more crowded—and fragile—than it looks. Satellites constantly weave past each other, burning fuel and making dozens of evasive maneuvers every year just to stay safe. A major solar storm could disable navigation and ...

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