A scientist is controversially claiming the Milky Way isn't larger than its neighboring galaxy, Andromeda.

Using a new method of studying mass, Matthew Walker, Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said previous findings about the Milky Way's mass have been inaccurate.

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He said that by studying two massive galaxies close to each other and the galaxies that surround them, scientists can determine their gravity. Pairing that to the expansion of the universe will yield the accurate amount of mass in each galaxy.

Walker said this is the first time they're able to measure the mass of the Milky Way and Andromeda simultaneously.

In his study, he found out the Milky Way is only about half the mass of Andromeda.

Andromeda is a spiral galaxy some 2.5 million light years from Earth in the Andromeda Constellation.

He said that in previous studies, researchers observed these galaxies by comparing them to dwarf galaxies.

Researchers previously only estimated the mass of the Milky Way and Andromeda based on this observation.

Using this new study, researchers used previously published data with information about the distances to the Milky Way, Adromeda and other nearby galaxies.

They were able to discover Andromeda is twice the size of the Milky Way, with dark matter comprising 90 percent of both galaxies.