Types of Galaxies
When a mix of stars, planets, supernova remnants, and stellar debris are gravitationally locked and spinning, usually on the outer boundaries of a super massive black hole, a galaxy forms.
Leo is home to some of the most beautiful galaxies in the universe, including the Leo Triplet, a small galaxy cluster about 35 million light-years from earth.
- Elliptical galaxies are diffuse and three dimensional, filled with older stars and star clusters that quietly evolve from main sequence stars into dwarfs without the dramatic and volatile supernova explosions of younger, hotter stars. Only about 15-20 percent of the galaxies in the universe are thought to be the elliptical type.
- Spiral galaxies are more common. Their core is either a super massive black hole that radiates x-rays and electromagnetic waves, or a mass of globular clusters, dense groupings of old, tightly bound stars. Spiral galaxies are flat with a bulge at the center and spiral “arms” filled with evolving star clusters and inter-stellar debris.
- Irregular galaxies are just that, irregularly shaped regions filled with stars and gaseous debris that are diffuse like an elliptical galaxy and asymmetrical.
