Watch the video below to see the comparison of the size … Distance from Earth: 5,000 light-years Imagine the Milky Way galaxy as a music CD (the thickness compared to its diameter is about right). The Milky Way is … This galaxy is 2.5 million light-years away. Think the Milky Way is big?

It is about 1/200th the size of our Milky Way. Andromeda is a spiral galaxy of similar size, so we can think of it as a second CD.
Size: 1,420- 2,850 x Sun.

Now hold these CDs about eight feet apart. Technically, the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is the closest galaxy at 42,000 light-years from the center of our Milky Way, or 25,000 light-years from Earth. It's puny compared to M87, an elliptical galaxy 980,000 light years in diameter. Be aware of the fact that with the Hubble Space Telescope we are just beginning to see other stars beyond the Milky Way Galaxy in our nearest next door neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy. From "Galaxy Size Comparison Chart" by Rhys Taylor.