A Wider View

Abstract

In the previous chapter, we took a rather long stroll through our own neighborhood in the world of galaxies, and looked in some detail at the properties there. Although new research has changed our view of the Local Group in the last few years, there is still much more of the familiar than in the many foreign parts we journeyed through in the preceding chapters. Before ending our journey altogether, we will now climb up to the top of a nearby mountain. Our imagination will let us accept the contradictory propositions that the metaphorical mountain is high enough to give us a very wide view of the galaxy world, and that we can attain that height quickly. From there we want to look in particular at some corners of the world of galaxies and their interactions that we have not been able to visit in the preceding chapters. We will glance quickly from one to another of these views. As in the real world of astronomical observation, long light travel times allow us to see the past of the galaxy world as well.