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We are flying at many times the speed of light from far far out in deep space headed
directly towards Earth's home, the Milky Way galaxy via the Andromeda galaxy.
Around us we are surrounded by billions of galaxies that have been discovered and
cataloged by astronomists over the years.
Scientists believe their movements are influenced by dark energy and dark matter
abundant in the universe.
The galaxies are listed in the IC, NGC, and Messier catalogs with their own number. IC
stands for Index Catalog, and NGC is the New General Catalog.
There are three types of galaxy. Spiral, Elliptical, and Lenticular shaped.
We are coming up near the sister galaxy of our Milky Way called Andromeda. We will fly
above it shortly. It is located 2.5 million light years from the Milky Way.
Here is Andromeda, gorgeous. Up ahead is the Milky Way.
A light year is 5.88 trillion miles long. It is the distance covered if you traveled
continuously at the speed of light for an entire year.
Thus if you were to fly from Andromeda to the Milky Way at the speed of light
continuously for a million years you would only be just under half way there!!
So as you can see the universe is a BIG BIG BIG place.
So as you can see the universe is a BIG BIG BIG place.