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elliptical galaxy

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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.



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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
Hubble Space Telescope images have shown that NGC 1316, an elliptical galaxy lying 80 million light-years from Earth, has swallowed spiral galaxies, smashing together gas clouds and generating new massive stars.
Cosmic pops: nearby galaxy is hotbed of supernova formation by Cowen R. / Science News
Krupp pointed to M87, a fuzzy elliptical galaxy 50 million light years from Earth with a telltale black hole.
HEAVENS ON EARTH FOUR YEARS AND $93 MILLION LATER, A REVAMPED, BEEFED ... by Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Several billion years from now, scientists predict, the galaxy and the Milky Way will collide to become a single, giant, elliptical galaxy.
Assault on Andromeda: nearby galaxy had recent collision by Cowen, R. / Science News
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