SYDNEY, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The nearest galaxy to our own Milky Way has been revealed, but it's so close that the Milky Way is gradually consuming it by pulling in its stars.
NewScientist.com said the previously unknown galaxy lies about 25,000 light years from Earth and 42,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way -- beyond the stars in the constellation Canis Major dwarf galaxy. It is twice as close to the center of our galaxy as the previous record holder, the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, discovered in 1994.
Geraint Lewis, a researcher at Australia's University of Sydney, says the discovery is important because it highlights the fact that the Milky Way is not in its middle age -- it is still forming.
NewScientist said the Canis Major was found it using infrared data from a recent sky survey.
A paper on the discovery of the new galaxy will be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
