"Everything scattered in the Andromeda system is very asymmetric and perturbed. It does appear that something significant happened not too long ago," Weisz said. "Our work has shown that low-mass galaxies in other ecosystems have followed different evolutionary paths than what we know from the Milky Way satellite galaxies."

For decades, scientists have studied small satellite galaxies to better understand how the universe’s smallest galaxies evolve. Much of what is known about these galaxies comes from observing those that orbit the Milky Way.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals surprising details about Andromeda's satellite galaxies, offering fresh insights into the galaxy's evolution, structure, and turbulent history, including a possib

Located 2.5 million light-years away, the majestic Andromeda galaxy appears to the naked eye as a faint, spindle-shaped object roughly the angular size of the full moon. What backyard observers don't see is a swarm of nearly three dozen small satellite galaxies circling the Andromeda galaxy,

Located 2.5 million light-years away, the majestic Andromeda galaxy appears to the naked eye as a faint, spindle-shaped object roughly the angular size of the full Moon. What backyard observers don't see is a swarm of nearly three dozen small satellite galaxies circling the Andromeda galaxy,

The Hubble Space Telescope revealed that the Andromeda Galaxy’s ecosystem differs from our Milky Way’s. This shows how these two galaxies have evolved over billions of years. While our Milky Way has had a calm history, Andromeda has had a much more dynamic past.