Is the Local Group expanding along with the entire Universe?
The Local Group of Galaxies (Milky Way, Andromeda, etc) moves towards the Local Supercluster. At the same time, are our neighbour Galaxies getting away from Milky Way? Is the Local Group expanding as a whole thing at the same time that the further universe is expanding ?
Our nearest neighbors, namely the Local Group, consists mainly of our galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy, and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (as well as about 30 small galaxies about 1 Mpc from us). The two largest galaxies, the Milky Way and the Andromeda, are moving towards each other at about 119 km/s instead of expanding along with the rest of the universe because the gravitational attraction between the two is stronger. In fact, the entire Local Group is collapsing under the gravitational attraction, and in about 3 billion years, the Milky Way and Andromeda will collide! Ahhhh!
On a larger scale, the Local Group is moving towards the Local Supercluster at about 600 km/s, but it doesn't head straight for the center of the Local Supercluster as expected. Astronomers think that this is because of a large cluster of galaxies beyond the Local Supercluster that we call the "Great Attractor." Though its position and structure isn't known exactly, its existence is inferred from how the Local Group is moving towards the Local Supercluster.
This is a very fun page about The Structure of the Universe that lets you see different structures, from the nearest neighboring stars to the entire universe.
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- How do galaxies collide in an expanding universe?
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