Reach for the stars: Challenge yourself with our astronomy quiz!
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What can be determined through the shape of a galaxy?
Image Credit: Shot by Cerqueira
Age
Number of planets
Presence of black holes
Presence of life
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Galaxies are categorized according to their apparent shape. These shapes are typically divided into elliptical, spiral, or irregular.
The shape of a galaxy gives a clue to the age and types of stars within the galaxy. Spiral galaxies have a central bulge of stars surrounded by a disk that contains arms, which form a spiral structure. Stars in the bulge of a spiral galaxy tend to be older and redder than the rest. There's also a much fainter, roughly spherical, stellar halo encompassing the disk. An example of a spiral galaxy is one of our nearest neighbors, the Andromeda galaxy.
Barred spiral galaxies are spiral galaxies with a bar of stars across the middle of the galaxy. The Milky Way is thought to be a barred spiral galaxy, as are about 2/3 of all observed spiral galaxies.