Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, sits inside a local cosmic neighbourhood filled with other galaxies — from tiny dwarf companions to the great spiral of Andromeda. Nearby galaxies and how far away they areSome of the best-known galaxies close to the Milky Way are:Andromeda (M31) — about 2.537 million light-years away. Andromeda is the nearest large spiral galaxy and the Milky Way’s biggest neighbour in the Local Group. Andromeda is the nearest large spiral galaxy and the Milky Way’s biggest neighbour in the Local Group. Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) — about 163,000 light-years away, a satellite galaxy visible from the Southern Hemisphere.