Northern Ireland Key Stage 4

Galaxies do not exist alone – they are part of groups. These groups can also be part of larger clusters with hundreds of thousands of galaxies. Each galaxy type has smaller versions called dwarf galaxies. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, belongs to a group called the Local Group. 

In 2017, the Liverpool Telescope was involved in the investigation of an exciting new discovery: the star system TRAPPIST-1.

Galaxies are vast collections containing billions of stars, planets, and massive clouds of gas, dust, and ice. Understanding galaxies is a key part of astronomy. One important tool for studying them is classification—grouping them into a few different categories. 

Distances to objects in space are very, very large. The nearest star (excluding the Sun), Alpha Centauri, is 41.23 trillion km, or 41,320,000,000,000 km!!

You have likely heard about the Universe expanding. Or that redshift can tell us about the movements of galaxies. Both are difficult ideas to imagine and understand.