Astronomy & space · Curated list
Milky Way, Andromeda Galaxy, Triangulum Galaxy and 15 more, ranked by how much of the world has written about each one.
Most written-about first, and cut at 18: below that, faint catalogue galaxies known by a number tie with famous ones, and the count stops telling them apart.
1
Galaxy containing the Solar System
Also called the Milky Way Galaxy, or just the Galaxy, the galaxy the Solar System belongs to. The name describes how it looks from Earth: a hazy band of light across the night sky, made by stars in other arms of the galaxy, too distant for the naked eye to pick out one by one.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESO/R. Hurt, Public domain
2
Barred spiral galaxy in the Local Group
A barred spiral galaxy, the major galaxy closest to the Milky Way. First called the Andromeda Nebula, it is catalogued as NGC 224, M31 and Messier 31.
3
Spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum
A spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum, 2.878 million light-years (ly) from Earth, catalogued as NGC 598 or Messier 33.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public domain
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4
Satellite galaxy of the Milky Way
Usually shortened to LMC, a dwarf galaxy that is a satellite of the Milky Way. At about 50 kiloparsecs, it ranks second or third among the galaxies nearest the Milky Way; closer are the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal and perhaps the Canis Major Overdensity, which may be a dwarf irregular galaxy.
Wikidata · Photo: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava), CC BY 4.0
5
Dwarf irregular galaxy, satellite galaxy of the Milky Way
Usually shortened to SMC, a dwarf galaxy close to the Milky Way. It is classed as a dwarf irregular galaxy, holds several hundred million stars, and measures about 5.78 kiloparsecs (18,900 light-years) by its D₂₅ isophotal diameter.
Wikidata · Photo: Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/SMASH/D. Nidever (Montana State University) Acknowledgment: Image processing: Travis…, CC BY 4.0
6
Spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major
Also called NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy, a grand design spiral galaxy some 12 million light-years away in Ursa Major. Its D₂₅ isophotal diameter is 29.44 kiloparsecs (96,000 light-years).
Wikidata · Photo: Ken Crawford, CC BY-SA 4.0
7
Galaxy in the constellation Virgo
A peculiar galaxy whose classification is uncertain, on the border between the constellations Corvus and Virgo, some 9.55 megaparsecs from the Milky Way. It belongs to the Virgo II Groups, a chain of galaxies and galaxy clusters stretching out from the Virgo Supercluster's southern edge.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), Public domain
8
Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major
An intermediate spiral galaxy seen face-on, turning counterclockwise, 21 million light-years from Earth in Ursa Major. Pierre Méchain discovered it in 1781 and told Charles Messier the same year; Messier checked its position and added it to his catalogue as one of the last entries.
Wikidata · Photo: Credit: Image: European Space Agency & NASA Acknowledgements: Project Investigators for the original Hubble data: K.D.…, CC BY 4.0
9
Spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices
A spiral galaxy, fairly isolated, 17 million light-years away in Coma Berenices. Edward Pigott discovered it in March 1779; Johann Elert Bode found it on his own a month later, and Charles Messier the year after.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI), Public domain
10
Galaxy in the constellation Virgo
A supergiant elliptical galaxy in Virgo holding several trillion stars. Among the largest and most massive galaxies of the local universe, it has around 15,000 globular clusters, against the Milky Way's 150–200, and a jet of energetic plasma that leaves its core at a relativistic speed and reaches out at least 1,500 parsecs.
Wikidata · Photo: Credits: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: P. Cote…, Public domain
11
Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major
Also called NGC 3034, M82 or the Cigar Galaxy, a starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away in Ursa Major. The second-largest member of the M81 Group, it measures 12.52 kiloparsecs (40,800 light-years) by its D₂₅ isophotal diameter.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), Public domain
12
Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici
An intermediate spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici, discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team). Acknowledgment: J.…, Public domain
13
Radio galaxy in the constellation Centaurus
A galaxy in Centaurus, discovered in 1826 by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, observing from his home in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia.
Wikidata · Photo: ESO/WFI (Optical); MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A.Weiss et al. (Submillimetre); NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al. (X-ray), CC BY 4.0
14
Spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici
Also called M63, NGC 5055 or the Sunflower Galaxy, a spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici, a constellation of the northern sky. The French astronomer Pierre Méchain found it first, and his colleague Charles Messier confirmed it on 14 June 1779.
Wikidata · Photo: Credit Line and Copyright Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona, CC BY-SA 3.0 us
15
Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici
Also called NGC 5194 or Messier 51a (M51a), an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy whose active galactic nucleus is of Seyfert 2 type. It lies in Canes Venatici, and it was the first galaxy ever classified as spiral.
Wikidata · Photo: S. Beckwith (STScI), Hubble Heritage Team, (STScI/AURA), ESA, NASA, Additional Processing: Robert Gendler, Public domain
16
Dwarf elliptical galaxy in the constellation Andromeda
A dwarf galaxy of the "early-type" kind, seen in the constellation Andromeda, around 2,490,000 light-years (760,000 pc) away from the Solar System. A satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), it was discovered in 1749 by Guillaume Le Gentil.
17
Satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy
Also called M110 or NGC 205, a dwarf elliptical galaxy of the Local Group that orbits the Andromeda Galaxy as a satellite.
Wikidata · Photo: Credit:NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, CC BY 4.0
18
Face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces
A large spiral galaxy in Pisces, a constellation on the celestial equator, some 32 million light-years from Earth.
Wikidata · Photo: ESO/PESSTO/S. Smartt, CC BY 4.0
Every Wikidata item that is a galaxy, or a kind of galaxy, and that has its own English Wikipedia article, ranked by the number of Wikimedia sites with a page about it — Wikipedia's language editions, mostly, and sister projects such as Wikiquote. That counts how many communities independently thought it worth describing, and nobody can buy a place on it. The top 18 are shown.
Fetched from Wikidata on 2026-09-25. Each description is this site's summary of the entry's Wikipedia article, which its name links to: the wording is ours, the facts are Wikipedia's, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. To correct an entry, correct it there; the next refresh carries the change.
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