{"id":3232,"date":"2025-01-23T11:45:30","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T11:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outreach.iac.es\/peter\/?page_id=3232"},"modified":"2025-07-01T13:15:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T13:15:30","slug":"distances-in-the-universe-galaxies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/outreach.iac.es\/peter\/distances-in-the-universe-galaxies\/","title":{"rendered":"Distances in the universe. Galaxies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When we look up at the night sky with our eyes, almost all of the bright spots we see twinkling are stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way<\/strong>. If the night is dark, we can also see faint spots of light. These are the galaxies closest to our own, the Andromeda Galaxy<\/strong> and the two Magellanic Clouds<\/strong>, although these are only visible from the southern hemisphere of our planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how do we measure the distance to stars and galaxies if we can’t reach them? It seems complicated, doesn’t it? Astronomers have gradually discovered different methods that enable calculating the distances to objects in the Universe, from those that are closest to us, to those that are farther away and can only be seen using powerful telescopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do you want to know how we measure the distances to the stars in our galaxy? Do you want to know the shapes of galaxies and how to classify them? We encourage you to find out with PETeR in this Unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download here the INTRODUCTION<\/a> to this Didactic Unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Activities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now we invite you to help us classify some galaxies that we have observed with the Liverpool Telescope. Can you measure their diameter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n