There are billions of galaxies out there in the cosmos. One of the brightest and the nearest more giant galaxies we know is Andromeda galaxy. This galaxy is 2.5 million light-years away.
The Andromeda galaxy hosts trillion stars & is four times bigger than our own galaxy Milky Way. If that galaxy is bigger than the Milky way, then it is natural there must be many star systems in that galaxy.
Around those stars, there must be some planets orbiting. Being our galactic neighbor, the question of whether there are any planets in the Andromeda galaxy is very genuine. If there are any planets, How do they look like? Or Are they Habitable? Or Did life exist on these planets?
How many Planets are in the Andromeda Galaxy?
At the moment there is only one potential planet we know from Andromeda. The name of the planet is PA-99-N2. It is not yet confirmed whether this object is a planet or not. It was found during the microlensing event of 1999. In 2007, further analysis of this object suggested that the planet may have a mass 6 to 7 times that of Jupiter.
Finding planets so far away is very difficult. Planets do not emit light as stars do. So there is a lot of guesswork you have to do according to the light reaching your eyes from these sources.
If it is confirmed that this object is definitely a planet then it will be the first galactic exoplanet we have ever found.
So far the exoplanets(outside our solar system) we found are in the Milky Way itself.
Andromeda galaxy planets list & details
As there is only one potential planet PA-99-N2 is known so far. There is not much of a list of planets as of now. The details of this planet are below.
| Constellation | Andromeda |
| Right ascension | 00h 44m 20.89 |
| Declination | +41° 28′ 44.6″ |
| Distance | 2,185,247.73 Ly |
| Mass | 6.34 times the Mass of Jupiter |
Are the andromeda galaxy planets habitable?
The Andromeda galaxy is so huge, scientists do believe that there must be planets that support life. For a planet to be habitable for humans, it has to be in the Goldilocks zone where there is liquid water available.
In the goldilocks zone, the planet has similar earth-like conditions, where there is the availability of water and atmosphere. Only then the plane will be habitable for humans. There might be many earth-like planets in the andromeda galaxy, but finding them from a distance of 2.5 million light-years is very difficult with the current technology.
If in the future NASA’s liquid lens telescopes become reality, then we will be able to observe much more detail of the many objects in the andromeda galaxy.
Andromeda galaxy planets pictures
As of now, there are no pictures available of the planets in this galaxy. There is always an artistic depiction of the planet that can be drawn and it can be predicted how the planet looks from the light we collect from it.
Are there Solar Systems in Andromeda Galaxy?
The Andromeda galaxy hosts more than trillion stars. Many of these stars probably have sun like features. They probably hosts some planets too. There must be lots of solar systems in the Andromeda galaxy but nothing can be said 100%.
As our technology improves, we will definitely find more planets in Andromeda. Which means there will be new discoveries of the Solar systems or Star systems from the Andromeda galaxy.
Conclusion
The Andromeda galaxy is so far away that finding a small object like the planet is a very difficult task. Even if we find one it will take some time to confirm it with current technology. In the future with more advanced technology, we will be able to find many more stars and planets in the andromeda galaxy.
The andromeda galaxy hosts more than trillion stars, learn more about all the known stars in Andromeda galaxy.
There are many other galaxies like whirlpool galaxy which also has planets. Learn more about planets in the Whirlpool Galaxy.
A good exposure through a 6 to 8-inch telescope will show you the beauty of Andromeda galaxy and many celestial objects, you can check out those telescopes.
