What are the smallest types of galaxies?

What are the smallest types of galaxies?

These are the irregulars. These galaxies have no identifiable form. Their stars, gas, and dust spread randomly. These are the smallest galaxies, and may contain as few as one million stars.

What galaxies are neither elliptical nor spiral?

Irregular galaxies have neither spiral nor elliptical shape. They tend to be smaller objects without definite shape, and tend to have very hot newer stars mixed with lots of gas and dust.

Which is bigger spiral or elliptical galaxy?

Our own Galaxy is a large spiral. Ellipticals are spheroidal or slightly elongated systems that consist almost entirely of old stars, with very little interstellar matter. Elliptical galaxies range in size from giants, more massive than any spiral, down to dwarfs, with masses of only about 106MSun.

What are the 3 different types of galaxies?

What Kinds of Galaxies Are There? Astronomers classify galaxies into three major categories: elliptical, spiral and irregular. These galaxies span a wide range of sizes, from dwarf galaxies containing as few as 100 million stars to giant galaxies with more than a trillion stars.

What type of galaxy has the oldest stars?

The Milky Way’s bulge — a bulbous, 10,000 light-year-wide region of stars and dust popping out of the galaxy’s spiral disc — is thought to contain some of the oldest stars in the galaxy.

What are the characteristics of a spiral galaxy?

Most spiral galaxies contain a central bulge surrounded by a flat, rotating disk of stars. The bulge in the center is made up of older, dimmer stars, and is thought to contain a supermassive black hole. Approximately two-thirds of spiral galaxies also contain a bar structure through their center, as does the Milky Way.

Does an elliptical galaxy rotate like a spiral galaxy explain?

Does an elliptical galaxy rotate like a spiral galaxy? No, so we can’t determine a rotational velocity. If we can measure the various speeds with which the stars are moving in their orbits around the center of the galaxy, we can calculate how much mass the galaxy must contain in order to hold the stars within it.

What is in the middle of a spiral galaxy?

Most spiral galaxies contain a central bulge surrounded by a flat, rotating disk of stars. The bulge in the center is made up of older, dimmer stars, and is thought to contain a supermassive black hole. The disk of stars orbiting the bulge separates into arms that circle the galaxy.

How old is the oldest star in the galaxy?

List of oldest stars

Name	Age (billions of years)	Location description
2MASS J18082002-5104378 B	13.53	Milky Way thin disk
BD +17° 3248	13.8 ± 4	Milky Way halo
SMSS J031300.36-670839.3	13.6	Milky Way halo or Globular clusters
J173823.38-145701.1	13.2 or more	Milky Way bulge

What is the difference between elliptical and spiral galaxies?

Main difference between elliptical and spiral galaxies are that in elliptical galaxies the ratio of random velocities to the rotational velocities is quite large as compared to those of spiral stars. Elliptical galaxies are roundish in shape and can also be a bit flattened.

What are facts about elliptical galaxies?

Elliptical galaxies are made up of mostly old stars, and do not have much gas and dust. There is very little new star formation in these galaxies. Elliptical galaxies also come in many sizes. The largest galaxies we see are ellipticals, but, elliptical galaxies can also be small. About 60% of all galaxies are ellipticals.

What are some examples of elliptical galaxies?

Examples of elliptical galaxies are M32 (an E2 dwarf elliptical next to the Andromeda Galaxy) and M87 (a huge elliptical in the center of the Virgo cluster ).