At a Glance: Galaxy Structure

 

 

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach.

 

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA, ESA, and STScI except:

 

·       NGC 6822 image courtesy of the Local Group Galaxies Survey Team/NOAO/AURA/NSF

·       Taurus constellation drawing from Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, courtesy of the United States Naval Observatory

·       NGC 4565 image courtesy of the European Southern Observatory

·       Small Magellanic Cloud image courtesy of F. Winkler/Middlebury College, the MCELS Team, and NOAO/AURA/NSF

 

Written by Vanessa Thomas

Designed by John Godfrey 

Music courtesy of Association Production Music

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at-a-GLANCE. The Makeup of Galaxies.

 

A spiral galaxy on the left, distant star with hazy light surrounding it in the middle, random spread of stars and dust on the right

 

All galaxies contain stars, gas, and dust.

 

But the ways these contents are arranged, and the amounts of each, are different for each kind of galaxy.

 

spiral galaxy with bright core in the middle

 

Spiral galaxies are defined by their large, swirling disks of gas, dust, and stars.

 

The disk blazes with young stars but contains older stars as well.

 

The compact core of a spiral galaxy smolders with the golden glow of much older stars.

 

A spiral galaxy's halo contains a smaller population of ancient stars and star clusters that are often as old as the galaxy itself.

 

bright spot of light surrounded by hazy glow

 

Elliptical galaxies are round or elongated objects packed with ancient stars.

 

Small elliptical galaxies contain just a few million stars, but giant ellipticals can contain over a trillion.

 

Ellipticals usually have very little dust, but some have more than others.

 

Young stars are rare in elliptical galaxies. They can, however, be found in ellipticals that gained new gas and dust during a galactic merger to form young stars.

 

random configuration of stars floats in bright pink dust and gas

 

Irregular galaxies are messy blobs of gas, dust, and stars.

 

These galaxies tend to be especially dusty and gassy.

 

Dust and gas are the construction materials for new stars.

 

Patches of young stars and star-forming regions often give irregular galaxies a speckled appearance.