Shown Here Are Astronomical Objects Located At Different Distances From Earth. Rank The Objects Based On Their Distances From Earth, From Farthest To Nearest. (2023)

FAQs

Which astronomical object is closest to Earth? ›

The Moon is the closest astronomical object to the Earth at a distance of 384,400 km.

A 2004 Cepheid variable method estimated the distance to be 2.51 ± 0.13 million light-years (770 ± 40 kpc). In 2005, an eclipsing binary star was discovered in the Andromeda Galaxy.

Astronomers can use what are called surface brightness fluctuations (SBF, for short), along with the color of a galaxy, to calculate how far away it is from earth. Most galaxies measured in this way are millions of light years away.

All of the stars in the Milky Way orbit a supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center, which is estimated to be four million times as massive as our Sun. Fortunately, it is a safe distance from Earth, at around 28,000 light-years away.

The most distant object ever seen from Earth may have just been discovered. HD1 is an object estimated to lie around 13.3 billion light years away from our planet, placing it in an era when many chemical elements were yet to form.

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth's neighborhood.

At approximately 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda galaxy, or M31, is our Milky Way's largest galactic neighbor. The entire galaxy spans 260,000 light-years across - a distance so large, it took 11 different image segments stitched together to produce this view of the galaxy next door.

The Andromeda Galaxy is one of the few visible to the unaided eye, appearing as a milky blur. It is located about 2,480,000 light-years from Earth; its diameter is approximately 200,000 light-years; and it shares various characteristics with the Milky Way system.

The closest known galaxy to us is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, at 236,000,000,000,000,000 km (25,000 light years) from the Sun. The Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy is the next closest , at 662,000,000,000,000,000 km (70,000 light years) from the Sun.

The parallax angle is the angle between the Earth at one time of year, and the Earth six months later, as measured from a nearby star. Astronomers use this angle to find the distance from the Earth to that star.

How do we measure astronomical distances? ›

For astronomical distances, we can make use of this by measuring the positions of stars when our planet is at opposite ends of our orbit around the Sun. Six months apart gives us viewing positions which are 186 million miles apart, instead of the few inches between your eyes.

Astronomers use an effect called parallax to measure distances to nearby stars. Parallax is the apparent displacement of an object because of a change in the observer's point of view.

Because the Comet Galaxy is 3.2 billion light-years away, it can only really be seen with the Hubble Space Telescope. Even a powerful backyard telescope wouldn't be able to locate it.

Andromeda, also known as Messier 31 (M31), is a spiral galaxy located about 2.5 million light years away. It is thought that the Milky Way and Andromeda will collide several billion years from now.

As the closest Cepheid variable its distance is used as part of the cosmic distance ladder. The revised Hipparcos stellar parallax gives a distance to Polaris of about 433 light-years (133 parsecs), while the successor mission Gaia gives a distance of about 448 light-years (137 parsecs).

The closest star to us is actually our very own Sun at 93,000,000 miles (150,000,000 km). The next closest star is Proxima Centauri. It lies at a distance of about 4.3 light-years or about 25,300,000,000,000 miles (about 39,900,000,000,000 kilometers).

Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our own, is still 40,208,000,000,000 km away. (Or about 268,770 AU.)

The closest known galaxy to us is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, at 236,000,000,000,000,000 km (25,000 light years) from the Sun. The Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy is the next closest , at 662,000,000,000,000,000 km (70,000 light years) from the Sun.

Although the sun is 27 million times more massive than the moon, it is 390 times further away from the Earth than the moon.