Good question. The generally accepted answer is that the universe is expanding, and the expansion is carrying other galaxies away from us, with a speed proportional to their distance.
But "generally accepted answers" have a way of being overthrown by later discoveries, so keep your mind open about this. I'm sure that we will make other discoveries in the coming decades and centuries that will make our descendants wonder "How could they have been so stupid?"
Nearby galaxies won't show much of a redshift, because they aren't moving away very quickly - or at all. For example, the Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is actually getting closer - and will collide with the Milky Way in about 3 billion years.
Yes, nearby stars generally have larger parallax angles than distant stars. Parallax is the apparent shift in the position of a star when observed from different points in Earth's orbit around the Sun. The closer a star is to Earth, the greater the angle of this shift, making it easier to measure compared to more distant stars, which exhibit much smaller angles due to their greater distances.
No, a globular cluster is a group of stars that are part of a galaxy. The Virgo cluster is much bigger. It is a large nearby group of galaxies.
Hubble Space Telescope observations revealed that the most distant galaxies are much younger and smaller than those found nearby, providing insights into the early universe. These galaxies often exhibit irregular shapes and higher rates of star formation, indicating they are in a formative stage of evolution. Hubble's findings also support the concept of galaxy formation and evolution over cosmic time, showing that galaxies have grown and evolved significantly since their inception. Additionally, the discovery of these distant galaxies has helped refine the understanding of the universe's expansion and the influence of dark energy.
Yes, there are maps of galaxies in the form of galaxy surveys conducted by astronomers. These surveys aim to chart the distribution of galaxies in the universe and understand their large-scale structure. The most well-known map of galaxies is the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).
The Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud are two nearby dwarf galaxies. Two larger galaxies that are still part of our local group are the Andromeda Galaxy (a.k.a. M31), and the Triangulum Galaxy. All of the above-named galaxies can be seen with the naked eye.
Distant galaxies are moving away from Earth at faster speeds compared to nearby galaxies. This is due to the expansion of the universe, where galaxies farther away experience a greater redshift, indicating faster recession velocities. This relationship is described by Hubble's Law, which states that the recessional velocity of a galaxy is directly proportional to its distance from us.
Galaxies change very slowly.
For a start, look up "Local Group" in the Wikipedia. This will show you a list of nearby galaxies.
Nearly all galaxies are moving away from our galaxie and planet.
Shapley is the astronomer that argued that the milky way is huge and other galaxies are merely small nearby companions.
Amos Yahil has written: 'The structure of the nearby universe traced by the IRAS galaxies' -- subject(s): Astronomy, Galaxies
Harold D. Ables has written: 'Optical study of nearby galaxies' -- subject(s): Astronomical photometry, Galaxies
Pieter Samuel Mulder has written: 'Structure and kinematics of two nearby disc galaxies' -- subject(s): Spiral galaxies
Most galaxies are moving away from us. Only a few galaxies, which are nearby, are moving towards us.
Nearby galaxies won't show much of a redshift, because they aren't moving away very quickly - or at all. For example, the Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is actually getting closer - and will collide with the Milky Way in about 3 billion years.
The cluster, which contains the Milky way and more than 50 other galaxies, is called the Local Cluster. The cluster has a diameter of 3.1 million parsecs (10 million light years). The Local Group is part of the much larger Virgo Supercluster.