What is local group?

Local Group

The Local Group is the group of galaxies that includes Earth's galaxy, the Milky Way. The group comprises more than 54 galaxies (including dwarf galaxies), with its gravitational center located somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxies of the Local Group cover a diameter of 10 megalight-years (3.1 megaparsecs) (see 1 E+22 m for distance comparisons) and have a binary (dumbbell) distribution. The group is estimated to have a total mass of 1.29±0.14 ×1012 M and has a velocity dispersion of 61±8 km/s. The group itself is part of the Virgo Supercluster (i.e. the Local Supercluster).

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