🌌 Galaxies
Islands of stars, dust, dark matter — and unfathomable time.
What Is a Galaxy?
A galaxy is a vast gravitationally bound system of stars, planets, nebulae, black holes, and dark matter. Some are peaceful spirals — others are chaotic cosmic storms, colliding and reshaping the universe.
Types of Galaxies
🌀 Spiral Galaxies — Graceful rotating arms full of young stars.
The Milky Way is one.
The Milky Way is one.
⚪ Elliptical Galaxies — Massive, ancient, and smooth,
containing billions of old stars.
✨ Irregular Galaxies — Chaotic shapes formed by collisions
or gravitational influence.
🔹 Dwarf Galaxies — Small galaxies orbiting larger ones,
often dominated by dark matter.
Our Home: The Milky Way
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy about 100,000 light-years across, containing over 100–400 billion stars.
Somewhere in an ordinary arm — the Orion Arm — is a pale blue dot we call home.
- 🌍 Our solar system orbits the center every ~230 million years.
- 🕳 A supermassive black hole (Sagittarius A*) sits at the core.
- ✨ Future collision expected with the Andromeda Galaxy in ~4 billion years.
Artist depiction • Public domain
Notable Galaxies
| Galaxy | Type | Fun Fact |
|---|---|---|
| Andromeda | Spiral | 🌀 On a collision course with the Milky Way. |
| Sombrero Galaxy | Spiral | 🎩 Known for its elegant ring shape. |
| Whirlpool Galaxy | Spiral | 📸 One of the most photographed galaxies. |
| Triangulum | Spiral | 🔭 Third-largest in our Local Group. |
| Large Magellanic Cloud | Dwarf | ✨ Visible by eye from Southern Hemisphere. |
Watch & Explore
🔗 Hubble: Galaxies in Deep Space
🔗 Andromeda & Milky Way Collision