How many miles is it to the nearest galaxy?

1 Answer
Oct 17, 2017

Well there's a simple question with a rather more complex answer.

Explanation:

The nearest galaxy is the Andromeda galaxy at about 2.5 million light years. Now it is just a unit conversion problem.

A light year is the distance light travels in a year .... about 6 million, million miles (5.879 xx 10^12 miles if you understand that method of writing large numbers.)

So the nearest galaxy is roughly 15 000 000 000 000 000 000 miles (15 xx 10^18 miles)

A long way, but it will one day engulf our galaxy and shred it to bits. Sleep well ;)