: Astronomy: elliptical galaxy

galactic and extragalactic astronomy > galaxy > elliptical galaxy

elliptical galaxy

An elliptical galaxy is a galaxy that has a superficially smooth, featureless appearance and an ellipsoidal shape. Giant ellipticals, such as M87, may contain over 10 trillion solar masses in the form of stars, are among the largest of galaxies, and are often found at the heart of rich clusters of galaxies, i.e. those containing large numbers of galaxies in a relatively compact volume of space. Dwarf ellipticals, on the other hand, such as M32 (a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy) may have masses as low as 10 million solar masses and lie at the bottom end of the galactic size range. Normal ellipticals are quite rare throughout much of space, but form the majority in big clusters. It used to be thought that ellipticals were the oldest galaxies, but more recent studies, including computer simulations, suggest that they have formed from collisions and mergers between spiral galaxies. So-called starburst galaxies appear to show this process in action. (Encyclopedia of Science, by David Darling, https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/E/ellipgal.html)

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