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The giant elliptical galaxy ESO 325-4. An elliptical galaxy is a type of galaxy with an approximately ellipsoidal shape and a smooth, nearly featureless image. They are one of the three main classes of galaxy described by Edwin Hubble in his Hubble sequence and 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae, [1] along with spiral and lenticular galaxies.
Astronomers refer to the distinctive spiral-like bulge of galaxies such as ESO 498-G5 as disc-type bulges, or pseudobulges. Many bulges have properties more similar to those of the central regions of spiral galaxies than elliptical galaxies. [6] [7] [8] They are often referred to as pseudobulges or disky-bulges.
Grand design spiral galaxy – Spiral galaxy with prominent and well-defined spiral arms; Intermediate spiral galaxy – Galaxy type intermediate between a spiral galaxy and barred spiral galaxy; Lenticular galaxy – Class of galaxy between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy; Ring galaxy – Galaxy with an annular appearance
Supergiant elliptical galaxies are some of the largest galaxies known. The Condor Galaxy is a colossal spiral galaxy disturbed by the smaller IC 4970 . It is the largest known spiral galaxy with the isophotal diameter of over 717,000 light-years (220 kiloparsecs ).
This implies that spiral galaxies contain large amounts of dark matter or, alternatively, the existence of exotic physics in action on galactic scales. The additional invisible component becomes progressively more conspicuous in each galaxy at outer radii and among galaxies in the less luminous ones. [clarification needed]
Massive elliptical galaxies have high Sérsic indices and a high degree of central concentration. This galaxy, M87, has a Sérsic index n~ 4. [4] Discs of spiral galaxies, such as the Triangulum Galaxy, have low Sérsic indices and a low degree of central concentration. Most galaxies are fit by Sérsic profiles with indices in the range 1/2 < n ...
Lenticular galaxies share kinematic properties with both spiral and elliptical galaxies. [14] This is due to the significant bulge and disk nature of lenticulars. The bulge component is similar to elliptical galaxies in that it is pressure supported by a central velocity dispersion. This situation is analogous to a balloon, where the motions of ...
NGC 1300, viewed nearly face-on; Hubble Space Telescope image. A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. [1] Bars are found in about two thirds of all spiral galaxies in the local universe, [2] and generally affect both the motions of stars and interstellar gas within spiral galaxies and can affect spiral arms as well.