 Extra-galactic astronomy, extra-galactic astronomy is the branch of astronomy concerned with objects outside the Milky Way galaxy. In other words, it is the study of all astronomical objects which are not covered by galactic astronomy. As instrumentation has improved, distant objects can't now be examined in more detail. It is therefore useful to subdivide this branch into near-extra-galactic astronomy and far-extra-galactic astronomy. The former deals with objects such as the galaxies of the local group, which are close enough to allow very detailed analyses of their contents, e.g. supernova remnants, stellar associations.