Galaxy

A vast "island universe" of stars, gas, and dust. The universe may contain 100 billion or more galaxies. Galactic size and structure range from dwarfs and irregulars with no discernible structure and only a few million stars to giant spirals and ellipticals that span 100,000 light-years or more and contain hundreds of billions of stars. Galaxies clump together in web-like structures. Despite its great luminosity, most of a galaxy's mass consists of dark matter, which produces no detectable energy.

Resources

Beyond the Solar System: Galaxies: Galaxies Fade Eventually, the stars of the Milky Way will burn...
Beyond the Solar System: Galaxies: Types of Galaxies Galaxies can be classified in several ways. The...
Beyond the Solar System: Galaxies: Galaxies: Cities of Stars Stars beyond counting populate the universe....

Featured Images

Star Stream Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Combined X-ray, optical, and radio view of the galaxy Centaurus A
Busy Galaxy Sunday, April 29, 2012
Space-based infrared view of the Large Magellanic Cloud
Busy Neighbor Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Optical and X-ray image of the galaxy cluster Abell 383
Brilliant Darkness Friday, March 16, 2012
New Heavyweight Champion Monday, February 6, 2012
Infrared view of the spiral galaxy IC 342
Tangled Galaxy Sunday, January 22, 2012
Galactic Swirl Wednesday, December 14, 2011
NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, galaxies in Virgo
Beautiful Eyes Thursday, August 25, 2011
NGC 3758, a system of two merging galaxies
Double Trouble Saturday, June 11, 2011
X-ray and radio image of galaxy M87
Close to the Monster Thursday, March 10, 2011
Irregular galaxy Henize 2-10, which appears to contain a supermassive black hole
Small But Powerful Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Spiral galaxy NGC 3621 in the constellation Hydra
Galactic Sparkler Wednesday, February 2, 2011
NGC 7252, aka the Atoms-for-Peace galaxies
Atomic Pile-up Saturday, November 20, 2010

Radio Programs

Galactic Streams Blending into the Milky Way Thursday, March 22, 2012
Sagittarius Dwarf A galactic tug-of-war Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Satellite Galaxies Satellite galaxies for the Milky Way Tuesday, March 20, 2012
IC 342 A close but veiled cosmic pinwheel Sunday, January 22, 2012
M83 Livening up the galactic boondocks Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunflower Galaxy A good night for galaxy-watching Thursday, March 31, 2011
Galaxies and Black Holes Insight into a chicken-and-egg problem Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Galactic Pileup A big galactic pileup Saturday, January 15, 2011
Palomar 1 The Milky Way destroys a star cluster Saturday, December 4, 2010

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