"Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away..."
             I chose an article from the SkyNews magazine from Nov- Dec 2001 describing the Andromeda Galaxy's movement towards us (blue shift), as appose to most other galaxies and objects in the universe, who are moving away from us (red shift), all as a result of the expanding nature of our universe, and in this unique case- some gravity as well.
             The article gives a possible explanation to the unique and different movement of the Andromeda Galaxy- that our own Milky Way Galaxy and The Andromeda Galaxy are bound together gravitationally as a pair of galaxies, which orbit around each other. It is thought that both were formed close to one another shortly after the Big Bang, and moved apart with the preceding intense expansion the new universe was experiencing. Over the years, though, (billions of them, it should be added) the gravitational attraction between them got powerful enough to overcome the force of expansion, and they are now falling towards one another. Possible consequences for this unique attraction, are also touched upon in the article, as a collision between the galaxies or a mere "dance" of movement, passing each other, with merging as it's ultimate outcome.
             This research essay will attempt to explore and explain the different features of the Andromeda galaxy, beginning with the historical events that led to it's discovery as a galaxy beyond our own and not a mere nebula, to the elaboration on the red and blue shifts in relation to the Doppler effect and, finally, the notion of our expanding universe and how it relates to the Big Bang. All terms will be defined and explained as pertaining to the topic and in an attempt to discover the true and unique nature of these aspects of our universe.
             The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest large galaxy neighboring our Milky Way Galaxy. It is a spiral disk shaped galaxy similar to our own. ...