[MUSIC] Joan Cartan-Hansen, Host: The universe is a pretty big place, but even in space we have neighbors!

We live in the Milky Way galaxy and the closest large galaxy to our own is called Andromeda.

And we have a lot in common!

Andromeda is spiral galaxy much like ours, and it's roughly the same size.

It's large enough and close enough to us, that you can see it without the use of a telescope.

And even though Andromeda is our closest galactic neighbor, it's still almost 2.5 million light years away, making it one of the oldest objects in the universe that you can see with the naked eye.

Scientists think that someday our galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy may collide.

But I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, it's not likely to happen for another 4 billion years.

You can find Andromeda galaxy in the constellation of the same name.

It's best seen from the northern hemisphere in the autumn months.

So, the next time you look up at the night sky, see if you can spot Andromeda and wave "hello" to our galactic neighbor.

For more information about galaxies, check out the Science Trek website!

You'll find it at science trek dot org.