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Sky Talk-Dr. Thomas Troland

Date:
-
Location:
155 Chem-Phys Bldg

Dr. Thomas Troland—University of Kentucky, Department of Physics and Astronomy

The Andromeda Galaxy:

The most distant object you can see with your naked eye, but it's getting closer all the time!

The Andromeda Galaxy is an island universe of stars, and it is it the closest large galaxy to our own Milky Way. At two million light years away, Andromeda is also the most distant object you can see with your naked eye (but only faintly and under good conditions). If your eyes were extremely sensitive to light, the Andromeda Galaxy would appear four times as large in the sky as the full Moon. And what if your eyes were sensi-tive to radio waves or infrared light or ultra-violet light? What would Andromeda look like then? If you come to this talk, you will find out. And you will also learn that astronomers suspect the Andromeda Galaxy will collide with our Milky Way billions of years in the future. Let the fireworks begin!