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GalaxY Q&as
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NASA / Amazi ng Space Sci ence Background: Gal axy Q&As
1. What is a galaxy?
Agalaxyisanenormouscollectionofafewmilliontoseveraltrillionstars,gas,
anddustheldtogetherbygravity.Galaxiescanbeseveralthousandtohundredsof
thousandsoflight-yearsacross.
2. What is the name of our galaxy?
ThenameofourgalaxyistheMilkyWay.OurSunandallofthestarsthatyou
seeatnightbelongtotheMilkyWay.Whenyougooutsideinthecountryona
darknightandlookup,youwillseeamilky,misty-lookingbandstretchingacross
thesky.Whenyoulookatthisband,youarelookingintothedensestpartsofthe
MilkyWaythediskandthebulge.TheMilkyWayisaspiralgalaxy.(SeeQ7
formoreonspiralgalaxies.)
3. Where is Earth in the Milky Way galaxy?
OursolarsystemisinoneofthespiralarmsoftheMilkyWay,calledtheOrion
Arm,andisabouttwo-thirdsofthewayfromthecenterofthegalaxytotheedge
ofthegalaxysstarlight.EarthisthethirdplanetfromtheSuninoursolarsystem
ofeightplanets.
4. What is the closest galaxy that is similar to our own galaxy, and how far
away is it?
TheclosestspiralgalaxyisAndromeda,agalaxymuchlikeourownMilkyWay.
Itis.millionlight-yearsawayfromus.Andromedaisapproachingourgalaxy
atarateof300,000milesperhour.Fivebillionyearsfromnowitmayevencollide
withourMilkyWaygalaxy.
5. Why do we study galaxies?
Bystudyingothergalaxies,astronomerslearnmoreabouttheMilkyWay,the
galaxythatcontainsoursolarsystem.AnswerstosuchquestionsasDoall
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3
galaxieshavethesameshape?,Areallgalaxiesthesamesize?,Dotheyall
havethesamenumberofstars?,andHowandwhendidgalaxiesform?help
astronomerslearnaboutthehistoryoftheuniverse.Galaxiesarevisibleatvast
distances,andrevealthehistoryofthevisibleuniversewiththeircollectionsofbil-
lionsofstars,gas,anddust.
beennorecentstarformation.Spiralgalaxieshavelotsofgasanddust,while
ellipticalgalaxieshaveverylittlegasanddust.
7. How are galaxies classified? What do they look like?
Galaxiescanbeclassifiedaccordingtotheirshapes:spiral,elliptical,orirregular.
EdwinHubble,forwhomtheHubbleSpaceTelescopeisnamed,devisedanother
famousclassificationschemeforgalaxies.Hubblessystemincludedellipticaland
spiralgalaxiesbutexcludedirregulars.Today,astronomersusethreemaingalaxy
classes:spirals,ellipticals,andirregulars:
Aspiralgalaxyconsistsofaflatteneddiskcontainingspiral(pinwheel-shaped)
arms,ahalo,andabulgeatitscenter.Spiralgalaxieshaveavarietyofshapes.
Theyareclassifiedaccordingtothesizeofthebulgeandthetightnessand
appearanceofthearms.Thespiralarms,whichwraparoundthebulge,contain
manyyoungbluestarsandlotsofgasanddust.Mostofthestarsinthebulge
areolderandredder.YellowstarslikeourSunarefoundthroughoutthediskof
aspiralgalaxy.Thesegalaxiesrotatesomewhatlikeahurricaneorawhirlpool.
Anellipticalgalaxydoesnothaveadiskorspiralarms.Itischaracterized
byasmooth,ball-shapedappearance.Ellipticalscontainoldstarsandpossess
littlegasordust.Theyareclassifiedbytheshapeoftheball,whichcanrange
fromroundtooval(baseball-shapedtofootball-shaped).Thesmallestelliptical
galaxies(calleddwarfellipticals)areprobablythemostcommontypeofgalaxy
inthenearbyuniverse.Incontrasttospirals,thestarsinellipticalsdonot
revolvearoundthecenterinanorganizedway.Thestarsmoveinrandomly
orientedorbitswithinthegalaxy,likeaswarmofbees.
Anirregulargalaxyisneitheraspiralnoranelliptical.Irregulargalaxiestend
tobesmallerobjectswithoutadefiniteshape,andtheytypicallyhaveveryhot
newbornstarsmixedinwithlotsofgasanddust.Thesegalaxiesoftenhave
activeregionsofstarformation.Sometimestheirirregularshapeistheresult
ofinteractionsorcollisionswithothergalaxies.Observationssuchasthe
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NASA / Amazi ng Space Sci ence Background: Gal axy Q&As
HubbleDeepFieldsshowthatirregulargalaxiesweremorecommoninthe
distant(early)universe.
8. How do astronomers classify galaxies today?
Hubblessystemincludedellipticalandspiralgalaxiesbutexcludedirregulars.
Today,astronomersusethreemaingalaxyclasses:ellipticals,spirals,andirregulars.
Ellipticalgalaxiesrangefromroundshapes(E0)toovalshapes(E7).Spiralgalaxies
haveapinwheelshapeandareclassifiedaccordingtotheirbulge,aswellashow
tightlytheirarmsarewrappedaroundthebulge.TheyrangefromSa,whichhas
alargebulgeandtight,smootharms,toSc,whichhasasmallbulgeandloose,
lumpyarms.BarredspiralgalaxiesclassifiedasSBarepinwheel-shapedandhave
adistinctbarofstars,dust,andgasacrosstheirbulge.TheyrangefromanSBa,
whichhasabaracrossitslargebulgeandtight,smootharms,toanSBc,which
hasabaracrossitssmallbulgeandloose,lumpyarms.Irregulargalaxieshaveno
definiteshapebutstillcontainnewstars,gas,anddust.Thechartbelowsummarizes
thepropertiesofthemainclassesofgalaxies.
Main Classes of Galaxies
Spiral galaxies Elliptical galaxies Irregular galaxies
Huge;containstars,
gas,anddust
Huge;containstars,
gas,anddust
Huge;containstars,
gas,anddust
Heldtogetherbygravity Heldtogetherbygravity Heldtogetherbygravity
Pinwheelshape Round-to-ovalshape Noregularshape
Bulgeandthindisk;
haloispresent
Bulgebutnodisk;halo
ispresent
Mayshowsignsofa
diskand/orabulge;
haloispresent
Richingasanddust Smallamountofcool
gasanddust
Usuallyrichin
gasanddust
Youngandoldstarsare
present
Mainlyoldstarsare
present
Youngandoldstarsare
present
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