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![]() Some even have multiple names!Ī more formal way astronomers name galaxies is with two-part designations based on astronomical catalogs, published collections of astronomical objects observed by specific astronomers, observatories, or spacecraft. Compared to our Milky Way’s 200 to 400 billion stars, the dwarf galaxy known as the Small Magellanic Cloud is tiny, with just a few hundred million stars! IC 1101, on the other hand, is one of the largest elliptical galaxies found so far, containing almost 100 trillion stars.Įver wondered how galaxies get their names? Astronomers have a number of ways to name galaxies, like the constellations we see them in or what we think they resemble. Dwarf galaxies, the smallest version of spiral, elliptical, and irregular galaxies, are usually made up of 1,000 to billions of stars. Now that we know the different types of galaxies, what about how many stars they contain? Galaxies can come in lots of different sizes, even among each type. When two galaxies collide, clouds of gas, dust, and stars are violently thrown around, forming an entirely new, larger one! This could be the cause of some irregular galaxies seen today. Galaxy collisions have been important to the formation of our Milky Way and others. Astronomers think that irregular galaxies’ uniqueness is a result of interactions with other galaxies, like collisions! Galaxies are so big, with so much distance between their stars, that even when they collide, their stars usually do not. They have one-of-a-kind shapes, and many just look like messy blobs. Irregular galaxies are, well … a bit strange. The supermassive black hole at its center was recently imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope. ![]() The stars in these galaxies tend to be spread out neatly throughout the galaxies and are some of the oldest stars in the universe! Messier 87 (M87) is one example of an elliptical galaxy. Like spiral galaxies, their centers are typically bulges surrounded by a halo of stars (but minus the epic spiral arms). Our galactic neighbor, Andromeda (also known as Messier 31 or M31), is also a spiral galaxy!Įlliptical galaxies tend to be smooth spheres of gas, dust, and stars. Usually, there’s a huge black hole hiding at the center, like the Milky Way’s Sagittarius A* (pronounced A-star). Spiral galaxies, like our very own Milky Way, look similar to pinwheels! These galaxies tend to have a bulging center heavily populated by stars, with elongated, sparser arms of dust and stars that wrap around it. But astronomers have noticed that there are mainly three types: spiral, elliptical, and irregular. Galaxies come in lots of different shapes, sizes, and colors. How many types are out there, how’d so many of them wind up with weird names, and how many stars live inside them? Hold tight while we explore these cosmic metropolises. Though there are a slew of galaxies in the universe, there are only a few we can see with the unaided eye or backyard telescope. These beautiful cosmic structures come in many shapes and sizes. Galaxies are like cities made of oodles of stars, gas, and dust bound together by gravity. NASA space pictures galaxy stars Hubble Space Telescope spiral galaxy space science space wallpapers wallpaper Antennae Galaxies ![]() Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space. This cannot last forever, and neither can the separate galaxies eventually the nuclei will coalesce and the galaxies will begin their retirement together as one large elliptical galaxy. The rate of star formation is so high that the Antennae galaxies are said to be in a state of starburst, a period in which all of the gas within the galaxies is being used to form stars. The sweeping spiral-like patterns, traced by bright blue star clusters, shows the result of a firestorm of star-birth activity, which was triggered by the collision. Hubble’s observations have uncovered over 1,000 bright, young star clusters bursting to life as a result of the head-on wreck. Clouds of gas blossom out in bright pink and red, surrounding the bright flashes of blue star-forming regions - some of which are partially obscured by dark patches of dust. The far-flung stars and streamers of gas stretch out into space, creating long tidal tails reminiscent of antennae (not visible in this close-up Hubble view). The clash is so violent that stars have been ripped from their host galaxies to form a streaming arc between the two. Once normal, sedate spiral galaxies like the Milky Way, this galactic pair has spent the past few hundred million years sparring. Two galaxies are locked in a deadly embrace in this Hubble Space Telescope image. ![]()
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