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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2017
A comparison of some of the basic properties of M31 and the Milky Way indicates that in almost every respect M31 is larger than the Galaxy. It is more luminous, redder, more massive, and of earlier Hubble type. A detailed comparison of the spiral structure, based on optical tracers, for comparable areas in the outer parts of each galaxy shows differences in the arm spacings, in density enhancement, and in pitch angle.