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In astrophysics, accretion is the accumulation of particles into a massive object by gravitationally attracting more matter, typically gaseous matter, into an accretion disk. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Most astronomical objects , such as galaxies , stars , and planets , are formed by accretion processes.
The most prominent accretion disks are those of active galactic nuclei and of quasars, which are thought to be massive black holes at the center of galaxies. As matter enters the accretion disc, it follows a trajectory called a tendex line, which describes an inward spiral. This is because particles rub and bounce against each other in a ...
It is organized into at least three distinct subsystems associated with the three large galaxies—M87, M49 and M86—with the core subgroup including M87 (Virgo A) and M49 (Virgo B). [128] There is a preponderance of elliptical and S0 galaxies around M87. [129] A chain of elliptical galaxies roughly aligns with the jet. [129]
Types of galaxies according to the Hubble classification scheme : an E indicates a type of elliptical galaxy; an S is a spiral; and SB is a barred spiral galaxy. Galaxies come in three main types: ellipticals, spirals, and irregulars. A slightly more extensive description of galaxy types based on their appearance is given by the Hubble sequence.
Radiatively inefficient accretion has been used to explain the lack of strong AGN-type radiation from massive black holes at the centres of elliptical galaxies in clusters, where otherwise we might expect high accretion rates and correspondingly high luminosities. [21]
Size (left) and distance (right) of a few well-known galaxies put to scale. The following is a list of notable galaxies.. There are about 51 galaxies in the Local Group (see list of nearest galaxies for a complete list), on the order of 100,000 in the Local Supercluster, and an estimated 100 billion in all of the observable universe.
The image reveals nearly 100,000 galaxies, each billions of light years away, in a pinprick of the sky equivalent to looking at a mobile phone screen across a football field, according to the ...
1750 — Thomas Wright discusses galaxies and the flattened shape of the Milky Way and speculates nebulae as separate. [11] 1755 — Immanuel Kant drawing on Wright's work conjectures that our galaxy is a rotating disk of stars held together by gravity, and that the nebulae are separate such galaxies; he calls them Island Universes.