elliptical galaxy - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about elliptical galaxy Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,884,677,639 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

elliptical galaxy

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.

elliptical galaxy

In astronomy, one of the main classes of galaxy in the Hubble classification, characterized by a featureless elliptical profile. Unlike spiral galaxies, elliptical galaxies have very little gas or dust and no stars have recently formed within them. They range greatly in size from giant ellipticals, which are often found at the centres of clusters of galaxies and may be strong radio sources, to tiny dwarf ellipticals, containing about a million stars, which are the most common galaxies of any type. More than 60% of known galaxies are elliptical.



How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
?Sign in SSL protected
Email:
Password:
Register

? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
This dust is thought to be the remains of a cosmic merger between a giant elliptical galaxy and a smaller spiral galaxy full of dust.
Micheal Irwin is director of the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit and one of the discoverers of the Cetus Dwarf galaxy and the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy.
Other collisions depicted include the violent meeting of two stars at the edge of the galaxy and the future collision of the Milky Way galaxy with Earth''s closest neighbor, the Andromeda spiral galaxy, a cosmic crash that scientists predict will produce a new giant elliptical galaxy billions of years from now.
 
Hutchinson browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Hutchinson Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2010 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.