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The naming of galaxies
Galaxies that are close enough to earth to be seen with just your eyes have names like Andromeda or Omega Centauri. (Of course you would have to have very good eyesight and be in a dark, high place on a clear night to see them.)
After telescopes were invented, more galaxies were found, and some were named according to their appearance, like Cartwheel or Tadpole or Comet or Whirlpool. Some were named after the person who first spotted them, such as Bode's Galaxy or Mayall's Object (which meight really be two galaxies together).
As telescopes improved, more and more galaxies were discovered. Astronomers now name galaxies with letters and numbers, or a set of coordinatesso that they are easier to organize in lists and locate on maps of the Universe.
Image credits for this page:
Spiral Galaxy: Wikimedia, red arrow added.
Please read: About images and copyright.
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M Y  P L A C E I N T H E U N I V E R S E
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Because we are located within the Milky Way, we cannot get a good picture of it, but we know it is a spiral galaxy, like Galaxy NGC 7331 which is shown here.
If this were a picture of the Milky Way, we would be located out near the edge of one of the arms of the spiral, as indicated by the red arrow.
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Astronomers have seen that other stars in our galaxy have planets orbiting them, the way we orbit our sun. Perhaps, if they orbit close enough to be warmed by their sun, some of them might be able to support life. Perhaps some day scientists will discover a way to travel to other stars and find out.
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