Table of Contents
- 1 How are spiral and elliptical galaxies similar and different?
- 2 Does an elliptical galaxy rotate like a spiral galaxy explain?
- 3 Do spiral galaxies become elliptical galaxies?
- 4 What are the characteristics of a spiral galaxy?
- 5 What are the characteristics of elliptical galaxies?
- 6 What are the names of irregular galaxies?
How are spiral and elliptical galaxies similar and different?
Spiral galaxies have a central bulge of stars surrounded by a disk that contains arms, which form a spiral structure. Elliptical galaxies don’t show any structure, but have a smooth ellipsoidal shape, appearing as a large spherical or elliptical ball of stars.
How do elliptical galaxies compared to spiral galaxies?
Spiral galaxies have a flat disk like shape and a bulging center with spiral arms consisting the disk. Elliptical galaxies are ellipsoids with no clearly visible internal structure. Spiral galaxies have a very dense nucleus and a region of stars bulging outwards from the disks and, therefore, called the central bulge.
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.
Which two galaxies are most similar in shape?
The next two types of galaxies are elliptical and lenticular shaped galaxies. These types are the kinds that are the most similar. First they have few or no dust lanes and are largely composed of older mature stars.
Do spiral galaxies become elliptical galaxies?
Spiral galaxies are thought to evolve into elliptical galaxies as the spirals get older. But it’s unclear how common elliptical galaxies are as they’re made up of older, dimmer stars, and are more challenging to spot.
Why are most galaxies spiral shaped?
Astronomers believe that galaxies have spiral arms because galaxies rotate – or spin around a central axis – and because of something called “density waves.” Galactic density waves are like water waves. A spiral galaxy’s rotation, or spin, bends the waves into spirals.
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.
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 the characteristics of elliptical galaxies?
Elliptical Galaxies Characteristics of Galaxies. The Hubble Tuning Fork diagram puts galaxies into categories, and each of the categories corresponds to a different type of galaxy. Spiral Galaxies. Spiral galaxies like NGC 3310 (right) have two distinct regions. Lenticular Galaxies. Irregular Galaxies.
What are the characteristics of an irregular galaxy?
An irregular galaxy is a galaxy that does not have a distinct regular shape, unlike a spiral or an elliptical galaxy. Irregular galaxies do not fall into any of the regular classes of the Hubble sequence , and they are often chaotic in appearance, with neither a nuclear bulge nor any trace of spiral arm structure.
What are the names of irregular galaxies?
An Irr-I galaxy ( Irr I) is an irregular galaxy that features some structure but not enough to place it cleanly into the Hubble sequence.