On Dec. 15, 1612, the Andromeda galaxy was seen through a telescope for the first time by a German astronomer named Simon Marius. The Andromeda galaxy is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, and ...
M31, the spiral galaxy in Andromeda, with its two companion elliptical galaxies, the very small M32 ... [+] below, and larger M110 above. (Photo by: Alan Dyer/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via ...