in diameter and approximately 60 million light-years from Earth.

A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark
matter bound together by gravity.[1][2] The word is derived from
the Greek galaxias (γαλαξίας), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy
that contains the Solar System. Galaxies, averaging an estimated 100 million stars,
[3]
range in size from dwarfs with less than a thousand stars,[4] to the largest galaxies
known – supergiants with one hundred trillion stars, each orbiting its galaxy's center
of mass. Most of the mass in a typical galaxy is in the form of dark matter, with only a
few percent of that mass visible in the form of stars and nebulae. Supermassive
black holes are a common feature at the centres of galaxies.

Galaxies are categorised according to their visual morphology as elliptical,[5] spiral,

or irregular.[6] The Milky Way is an example of a spiral galaxy. It is estimated that
there are between 200 billion[7] (2×1011) to 2 trillion[8] galaxies in the observable
universe. Most galaxies are 1,000 to 100,000 parsecs in diameter (approximately
3,000 to 300,000 light years) and are separated by distances in the order of millions
of parsecs (or megaparsecs). For comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of at
least 26,800 parsecs (87,400 ly)[9][a] and is separated from the Andromeda Galaxy, its
nearest large neighbour, by just over 750,000 parsecs (2.5 million ly.)[12]

The space between galaxies is filled with a tenuous gas (the intergalactic medium)
with an average density of less than one atom per cubic metre. Most galaxies are
gravitationally organised into groups, clusters and superclusters. The Milky Way is
part of the Local Group, which it dominates along with the Andromeda Galaxy. The
group is part of the Virgo Supercluster. At the largest scale, these associations are
generally arranged into sheets and filaments surrounded by immense voids.[13] Both
the Local Group and the Virgo Supercluster are contained in a much larger cosmic
structure named Laniakea.[14]

Etymology
The word galaxy was borrowed via French and Medieval Latin from the Greek term
for the Milky Way, galaxías (kúklos) γαλαξίας (κύκλος)[15][16] 'milky (circle)', named after
its appearance as a milky band of light in the sky. In Greek mythology, Zeus places
his son, born by a mortal woman, the infant Heracles, on Hera's breast while she is
asleep so the baby will drink her divine milk and thus become immortal. Hera wakes
up while breastfeeding and then realises she is nursing an unknown baby: she
pushes the baby away, some of her milk spills, and it produces the band of light
known as the Milky Way.[17][18]

In the astronomical literature, the capitalised word "Galaxy" is often used to refer to
the Milky Way galaxy, to distinguish it from the other galaxies in the
observable universe. The English term Milky Way can be traced back to a story
by Geoffrey Chaucer c. 1380:

See yonder, lo, the Galaxyë

Which men clepeth the Milky Wey,
For hit is whyt.

— Geoffrey Chaucer, The House of Fame[16]

Galaxies were initially discovered telescopically and were known as spiral nebulae.
Most 18th- to 19th-century astronomers considered them as either unresolved star
clusters or anagalactic nebulae, and were just thought of as a part of the Milky Way,
but their true composition and natures remained a mystery. Observations using
larger telescopes of a few nearby bright galaxies, like the Andromeda Galaxy, began
resolving them into huge conglomerations of stars, but based simply on the apparent
faintness and sheer population of stars, the true distances of these objects placed
them well beyond the Milky Way. For this reason they were popularly called island
universes, but this term quickly fell into disuse, as the word universe implied the
entirety of existence. Instead, they became known simply as galaxies.[19]

Nomenclature

Galaxy cluster SDSS J1152+3313. SDSS stands

for Sloan Digital Sky Survey, J for Julian epoch, and 1152+3313 for right
ascension and declination respectively.
Millions of galaxies have been catalogued, but only a few have well-established
names, such as the Andromeda Galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds, the Whirlpool
Galaxy, and the Sombrero Galaxy. Astronomers work with numbers from certain
catalogues, such as the Messier catalogue, the NGC (New General Catalogue), the
IC (Index Catalogue), the CGCG (Catalogue of Galaxies and of Clusters of
Galaxies), the MCG (Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies), the UGC (Uppsala
General Catalogue of Galaxies), and the PGC (Catalogue of Principal Galaxies, also
known as LEDA). All the well-known galaxies appear in one or more of these
catalogues but each time under a different number. For example, Messier 109 (or
"M109") is a spiral galaxy having the number 109 in the catalogue of Messier. It also
has the designations NGC 3992, UGC 6937, CGCG 269–023, MCG +09-20-044,
and PGC 37617 (or LEDA 37617), among others.[20] Millions of fainter galaxies are
known by their identifiers in sky surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.[21]

Observation history
Milky Way
Main article: Milky Way
Greek philosopher Democritus (450–370 BCE) proposed that the bright band on the
night sky known as the Milky Way might consist of distant stars.[22] Aristotle (384–322
BCE), however, believed the Milky Way was caused by "the ignition of the fiery
exhalation of some stars that were large, numerous and close together" and that the
"ignition takes place in the upper part of the atmosphere, in the region of the World
that is continuous with the heavenly
motions."[23] Neoplatonist philosopher Olympiodorus the Younger (c. 495–570 CE)
was critical of this view, arguing that if the Milky Way was sublunary (situated
between Earth and the Moon) it should appear different at different times and places
on Earth, and that it should have parallax, which it did not. In his view, the Milky Way
was celestial.[24]

According to Mohani Mohamed, Arabian astronomer Ibn al-Haytham (965–1037)

made the first attempt at observing and measuring the Milky Way's parallax,[25] and
he thus "determined that because the Milky Way had no parallax, it must be remote
from the Earth, not belonging to the atmosphere."[26] Persian astronomer al-
Biruni (973–1048) proposed the Milky Way galaxy was "a collection of countless
fragments of the nature of nebulous
stars."[27] Andalusian astronomer Avempace (d. 1138) proposed that it was composed
of many stars that almost touched one another, and appeared to be a continuous
image due to the effect of refraction from sublunary material,[23][28] citing his
observation of the conjunction of Jupiter and Mars as evidence of this occurring
when two objects were near.[23] In the 14th century, Syrian-born Ibn Qayyim al-
Jawziyya proposed the Milky Way galaxy was "a myriad of tiny stars packed together
in the sphere of the fixed stars."[29]

Actual proof of the Milky Way consisting of many stars came in 1610 when the Italian
astronomer Galileo Galilei used a telescope to study it and discovered it was
composed of a huge number of faint stars.[30][31] In 1750, English astronomer Thomas
Wright, in his An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe, correctly
speculated that it might be a rotating body of a huge number of stars held together
by gravitational forces, akin to the Solar System but on a much larger scale, and that
the resulting disk of stars could be seen as a band on the sky from a perspective
inside it.[b][33][34] In his 1755 treatise, Immanuel Kant elaborated on Wright's idea about
the Milky Way's structure.[35]

The shape of the Milky Way as estimated from star

counts by William Herschel in 1785; the Solar System was assumed to be near the
center.
The first project to describe the shape of the Milky Way and the position of the Sun
was undertaken by William Herschel in 1785 by counting the number of stars in
different regions of the sky. He produced a diagram of the shape of the galaxy
with the Solar System close to the center.[36][37] Using a refined approach, Kapteyn in
1920 arrived at the picture of a small (diameter about 15 kiloparsecs) ellipsoid galaxy
with the Sun close to the center. A different method by Harlow Shapley based on the
cataloguing of globular clusters led to a radically different picture: a flat disk with
diameter approximately 70 kiloparsecs and the Sun far from the centre.[34] Both
analyses failed to take into account the absorption of light by interstellar dust present
in the galactic plane; but after Robert Julius Trumpler quantified this effect in 1930 by
studying open clusters, the present picture of the Milky Way galaxy emerged.[38]

Distinction from other nebulae

A few galaxies outside the Milky Way are visible on a dark night to the unaided eye,
including the Andromeda Galaxy, Large Magellanic Cloud, Small Magellanic Cloud,
and the Triangulum Galaxy. In the 10th century, Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman
al-Sufi made the earliest recorded identification of the Andromeda Galaxy, describing
it as a "small cloud".[39] In 964, he probably mentioned the Large Magellanic Cloud in
his Book of Fixed Stars, referring to "Al Bakr of the southern Arabs",[40] since at
a declination of about 70° south it was not visible where he lived. It was not well
known to Europeans until Magellan's voyage in the 16th century.[41][40] The Andromeda
Galaxy was later independently noted by Simon Marius in 1612.[39]

In 1734, philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg in his Principia speculated that there

might be other galaxies outside that were formed into galactic clusters that were
minuscule parts of the universe that extended far beyond what could be seen. These
views "are remarkably close to the present-day views of the cosmos."[42] In
1745, Pierre Louis Maupertuis conjectured that some nebula-like objects were
collections of stars with unique properties, including a glow exceeding the light its
stars produced on their own, and repeated Johannes Hevelius's view that the bright
spots were massive and flattened due to their rotation.[35] In 1750, Thomas
Wright correctly speculated that the Milky Way was a flattened disk of stars, and that
some of the nebulae visible in the night sky might be separate Milky Ways.[34][43]

Photograph of the "Great Andromeda Nebula"

by Isaac Roberts, 1899, later identified as the Andromeda Galaxy
Toward the end of the 18th century, Charles Messier compiled a catalog containing
the 109 brightest celestial objects having nebulous appearance. Subsequently,
William Herschel assembled a catalog of 5,000 nebulae.[34] In 1845, Lord
Rosse examined the nebulae catalogued by Herschel and observed the spiral
structure of Messier object M51, now known as the Whirlpool Galaxy.[44][45]

In 1912, Vesto M. Slipher made spectrographic studies of the brightest spiral

nebulae to determine their composition. Slipher discovered that the spiral nebulae
have high Doppler shifts, indicating that they are moving at a rate exceeding the
velocity of the stars he had measured. He found that the majority of these nebulae
are moving away from us.[46][47]

In 1917, Heber Doust Curtis observed nova S Andromedae within the

"Great Andromeda Nebula", as the Andromeda Galaxy, Messier object M31, was
then known. Searching the photographic record, he found 11 more novae. Curtis
noticed that these novae were, on average, 10 magnitudes fainter than those that
occurred within this galaxy. As a result, he was able to come up with a distance
estimate of 150,000 parsecs. He became a proponent of the so-called "island
universes" hypothesis, which holds that spiral nebulae are actually independent
galaxies.[48]

In 1920 a debate took place between Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis, the Great
Debate, concerning the nature of the Milky Way, spiral nebulae, and the dimensions
of the universe. To support his claim that the Great Andromeda Nebula is an external
galaxy, Curtis noted the appearance of dark lanes resembling the dust clouds in the
Milky Way, as well as the significant Doppler shift.[49]

In 1922, the Estonian astronomer Ernst Öpik gave a distance determination that
supported the theory that the Andromeda Nebula is indeed a distant extra-galactic
object.[50] Using the new 100-inch Mt. Wilson telescope, Edwin Hubble was able to
resolve the outer parts of some spiral nebulae as collections of individual stars and
identified some Cepheid variables, thus allowing him to estimate the distance to the
nebulae: they were far too distant to be part of the Milky Way.[51] In 1926 Hubble
produced a classification of galactic morphology that is used to this day.[52][53]

Multi-wavelength observation
See also: Observational astronomy

This ultraviolet image of Andromeda shows blue regions containing young, massive stars.

Advances in astronomy have always been driven by technology. After centuries of

success in optical astronomy, recent decades have seen major progress in other
regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.[54]

The dust present in the interstellar medium is opaque to visual light. It is more
transparent to far-infrared, which can be used to observe the interior regions of giant
molecular clouds and galactic cores in great detail.[55] Infrared is also used to observe
distant, red-shifted galaxies that were formed much earlier. Water vapor and carbon
dioxide absorb a number of useful portions of the infrared spectrum, so high-altitude
or space-based telescopes are used for infrared astronomy.[56]

The first non-visual study of galaxies, particularly active galaxies, was made
using radio frequencies. The Earth's atmosphere is nearly transparent to radio
between 5 MHz and 30 GHz. The ionosphere blocks signals below this range.
[57]
Large radio interferometers have been used to map the active jets emitted from
active nuclei.

Ultraviolet and X-ray telescopes can observe highly energetic galactic phenomena.
Ultraviolet flares are sometimes observed when a star in a distant galaxy is torn
apart from the tidal forces of a nearby black hole.[58] The distribution of hot gas in
galactic clusters can be mapped by X-rays. The existence of supermassive black
holes at the cores of galaxies was confirmed through X-ray astronomy.[59]
Modern research

Rotation curve of spiral

galaxy Messier 33 (yellow and blue points with error bars), and a predicted one from
distribution of the visible matter (gray line). The discrepancy between the two curves
can be accounted for by adding a dark matter halo surrounding the galaxy.[60]
In 1944, Hendrik van de Hulst predicted that microwave radiation with wavelength of
21 cm would be detectable from interstellar atomic hydrogen gas;[61] and in 1951 it
was observed. This radiation is not affected by dust absorption, and so its Doppler
shift can be used to map the motion of the gas in this galaxy. These observations led
to the hypothesis of a rotating bar structure in the center of this galaxy.[62] With
improved radio telescopes, hydrogen gas could also be traced in other galaxies. In
the 1970s, Vera Rubin uncovered a discrepancy between observed galactic rotation
speed and that predicted by the visible mass of stars and gas. Today, the galaxy
rotation problem is thought to be explained by the presence of large quantities of
unseen dark matter.[63][64]

Beginning in the 1990s, the Hubble Space Telescope yielded improved

observations. Among other things, its data helped establish that the missing dark
matter in this galaxy could not consist solely of inherently faint and small stars.
[65]
The Hubble Deep Field, an extremely long exposure of a relatively empty part of
the sky, provided evidence that there are about 125 billion (1.25×1011) galaxies in the
observable universe.[66] Improved technology in detecting the spectra invisible to
humans (radio telescopes, infrared cameras, and x-ray telescopes) allows detection
of other galaxies that are not detected by Hubble. Particularly, surveys in the Zone of
Avoidance (the region of sky blocked at visible-light wavelengths by the Milky Way)
have revealed a number of new galaxies.[67]

A 2016 study published in The Astrophysical Journal, led by Christopher

Conselice of the University of Nottingham, used 20 years of Hubble images to
estimate that the observable universe contained at least two trillion (2×1012) galaxies.
[68][69]
However, later observations with the New Horizons space probe from outside
the zodiacal light reduced this to roughly 200 billion (2×1011).[70][71]

Types and morphology

See also: Galactic bulge, Central massive object, Active galactic nucleus,
and Galaxy morphological classification
 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. Since the Hubble sequence is entirely based upon visual
morphological type (shape), it may miss certain important characteristics of galaxies
such as star formation rate in starburst galaxies and activity in the cores of active
galaxies.[6]

Many galaxies are thought to contain a supermassive black hole at their center. This
includes the Milky Way, whose core region is called the Galactic Center.[72]

Ellipticals
Main article: Elliptical galaxy
The Hubble classification system rates elliptical galaxies on the basis of their
ellipticity, ranging from E0, being nearly spherical, up to E7, which is highly
elongated. These galaxies have an ellipsoidal profile, giving them an elliptical
appearance regardless of the viewing angle. Their appearance shows little structure
and they typically have relatively little interstellar matter. Consequently, these
galaxies also have a low portion of open clusters and a reduced rate of new star
formation. Instead, they are dominated by generally older, more evolved stars that
are orbiting the common center of gravity in random directions. The stars contain low
abundances of heavy elements because star formation ceases after the initial burst.
In this sense they have some similarity to the much smaller globular clusters.[73]

Type-cD galaxies

The galaxy cluster Abell 1413 is

dominated by this cD elliptical galaxy designated Abell 1413 BCG. It has an
isophotal diameter of over 800,000 light-years across. Note the gravitational lensing.
The largest galaxies are the type-cD galaxies. First described in 1964 by a paper by
Thomas A. Matthews and others,[74] they are a subtype of the more general class of D
galaxies, which are giant elliptical galaxies, except that they are much larger. They
are popularly known as the supergiant elliptical galaxies and constitute the largest
and most luminous galaxies known. These galaxies feature a central elliptical
nucleus with an extensive, faint halo of stars extending to megaparsec scales.[75] The
profile of their surface brightnesses as a function of their radius (or distance from
their cores) falls off more slowly than their smaller counterparts.[76]

The formation of these cD galaxies remains an active area of research, but the
leading model is that they are the result of the mergers of smaller galaxies in the
environments of dense clusters, or even those outside of clusters with random
overdensities.[77] These processes are the mechanisms that drive the formation of
fossil groups or fossil clusters, where a large, relatively isolated, supergiant elliptical
resides in the middle of the cluster and are surrounded by an extensive cloud of X-
rays as the residue of these galactic collisions. Another older model posits the
phenomenon of cooling flow, where the heated gases in clusters collapses towards
their centers as they cool, forming stars in the process,[78] a phenomenon observed in
clusters such as Perseus,[79] and more recently in the Phoenix Cluster.[80]

Shell galaxy

NGC 3923 Elliptical Shell Galaxy (Hubble

photograph)
A shell galaxy is a type of elliptical galaxy where the stars in its halo are arranged in
concentric shells. About one-tenth of elliptical galaxies have a shell-like structure,
which has never been observed in spiral galaxies. These structures are thought to
develop when a larger galaxy absorbs a smaller companion galaxy—that as the two
galaxy centers approach, they start to oscillate around a center point, and the
oscillation creates gravitational ripples forming the shells of stars, similar to ripples
spreading on water. For example, galaxy NGC 3923 has over 20 shells.[81]

Spirals
Main articles: Spiral galaxy and Barred spiral galaxy
 The Pinwheel Galaxy, NGC 5457
Spiral galaxies resemble spiraling pinwheels. Though the stars and other visible
material contained in such a galaxy lie mostly on a plane, the majority of mass in
spiral galaxies exists in a roughly spherical halo of dark matter which extends
beyond the visible component, as demonstrated by the universal rotation curve
concept.[82]

Spiral galaxies consist of a rotating disk of stars and interstellar medium, along with
a central bulge of generally older stars. Extending outward from the bulge are
relatively bright arms. In the Hubble classification scheme, spiral galaxies are listed
as type S, followed by a letter (a, b, or c) which indicates the degree of tightness of
the spiral arms and the size of the central bulge. An Sa galaxy has tightly wound,
poorly defined arms and possesses a relatively large core region. At the other
extreme, an Sc galaxy has open, well-defined arms and a small core region.[83] A
galaxy with poorly defined arms is sometimes referred to as a flocculent spiral
galaxy; in contrast to the grand design spiral galaxy that has prominent and well-
defined spiral arms.[84] The speed in which a galaxy rotates is thought to correlate
with the flatness of the disc as some spiral galaxies have thick bulges, while others
are thin and dense.[85][86]

NGC 1300, an example of a barred spiral galaxy

In spiral galaxies, the spiral arms do have the shape of approximate logarithmic
spirals, a pattern that can be theoretically shown to result from a disturbance in a
uniformly rotating mass of stars. Like the stars, the spiral arms rotate around the
center, but they do so with constant angular velocity. The spiral arms are thought to
be areas of high-density matter, or "density waves".[87] As stars move through an arm,
the space velocity of each stellar system is modified by the gravitational force of the
higher density. (The velocity returns to normal after the stars depart on the other side
of the arm.) This effect is akin to a "wave" of slowdowns moving along a highway full
of moving cars. The arms are visible because the high density facilitates star
formation, and therefore they harbor many bright and young stars.[88]
 Hoag's Object, an example of a ring galaxy
Barred spiral galaxy
A majority of spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way galaxy, have a linear, bar-
shaped band of stars that extends outward to either side of the core, then merges
into the spiral arm structure.[89] In the Hubble classification scheme, these are
designated by an SB, followed by a lower-case letter (a, b or c) which indicates the
form of the spiral arms (in the same manner as the categorization of normal spiral
galaxies). Bars are thought to be temporary structures that can occur as a result of a
density wave radiating outward from the core, or else due to a tidal interaction with
another galaxy.[90] Many barred spiral galaxies are active, possibly as a result of gas
being channeled into the core along the arms.[91]

Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is a large disk-shaped barred-spiral galaxy[92] about
30 kiloparsecs in diameter and a kiloparsec thick. It contains about two hundred
billion (2×1011)[93] stars and has a total mass of about six hundred billion (6×1011) times
the mass of the Sun.[94]

Super-luminous spiral
Recently, researchers described galaxies called super-luminous spirals. They are
very large with an upward diameter of 437,000 light-years (compared to the Milky
Way's 87,400 light-year diameter). With a mass of 340 billion solar masses, they
generate a significant amount of ultraviolet and mid-infrared light. They are thought
to have an increased star formation rate around 30 times faster than the Milky Way.
[95][96]

Other morphologies

 Peculiar galaxies are galactic formations that develop unusual properties

due to tidal interactions with other galaxies.
 A ring galaxy has a ring-like structure of stars and interstellar
medium surrounding a bare core. A ring galaxy is thought to
occur when a smaller galaxy passes through the core of a spiral
galaxy.[97] Such an event may have affected the Andromeda
Galaxy, as it displays a multi-ring-like structure when viewed
in infrared radiation.[98]
 A lenticular galaxy is an intermediate form that has properties of both
elliptical and spiral galaxies. These are categorized as Hubble type S0,
and they possess ill-defined spiral arms with an elliptical halo of
stars[99] (barred lenticular galaxies receive Hubble classification SB0).
  Irregular galaxies are galaxies that can not be readily classified into an
elliptical or spiral morphology.
 An Irr-I galaxy has some structure but does not align cleanly
with the Hubble classification scheme.
 Irr-II galaxies do not possess any structure that resembles a
Hubble classification, and may have been disrupted.[100] Nearby
examples of (dwarf) irregular galaxies include the Magellanic
Clouds.[101]

 A dark or "ultra diffuse" galaxy is an extremely-low-luminosity galaxy. It

may be the same size as the Milky Way, but have a visible star count only
one percent of the Milky Way's. Multiple mechanisms for producing this
type of galaxy have been proposed, and it is possible that different dark
galaxies formed by different means.[102] One candidate explanation for the
low luminosity is that the galaxy lost its star-forming gas at an early stage,
resulting in old stellar populations.[103][104]
Dwarfs
Main article: Dwarf galaxy
Despite the prominence of large elliptical and spiral galaxies, most galaxies are
dwarf galaxies.[105] They are relatively small when compared with other galactic
formations, being about one hundredth the size of the Milky Way, with only a few
billion stars. Blue compact dwarf galaxies contains large clusters of young, hot,
massive stars. Ultra-compact dwarf galaxies have been discovered that are only
100 parsecs across.[106]

Many dwarf galaxies may orbit a single larger galaxy; the Milky Way has at least a
dozen such satellites, with an estimated 300–500 yet to be discovered.[107] Most of the
information we have about dwarf galaxies come from observations of the local group,
containing two spiral galaxies, the Milky Way and Andromeda, and many dwarf
galaxies. These dwarf galaxies are classified as either irregular or dwarf
elliptical/dwarf spheroidal galaxies.[105]

A study of 27 Milky Way neighbors found that in all dwarf galaxies, the central mass
is approximately 10 million solar masses, regardless of whether it has thousands or
millions of stars. This suggests that galaxies are largely formed by dark matter, and
that the minimum size may indicate a form of warm dark matter incapable of
gravitational coalescence on a smaller scale.[108]

Variants
Interacting
Main article: Interacting galaxy
 The Antennae Galaxies are undergoing a collision that
will result in their eventual merger.
Interactions between galaxies are relatively frequent, and they can play an important
role in galactic evolution. Near misses between galaxies result in warping distortions
due to tidal interactions, and may cause some exchange of gas and dust.[109]
[110]
Collisions occur when two galaxies pass directly through each other and have
sufficient relative momentum not to merge. The stars of interacting galaxies usually
do not collide, but the gas and dust within the two forms interacts, sometimes
triggering star formation. A collision can severely distort the galaxies' shapes,
forming bars, rings or tail-like structures.[109][110]

At the extreme of interactions are galactic mergers, where the galaxies' relative
momentums are insufficient to allow them to pass through each other. Instead, they
gradually merge to form a single, larger galaxy. Mergers can result in significant
changes to the galaxies' original morphology. If one of the galaxies is much more
massive than the other, the result is known as cannibalism, where the more massive
larger galaxy remains relatively undisturbed, and the smaller one is torn apart. The
Milky Way galaxy is currently in the process of cannibalizing the Sagittarius Dwarf
Elliptical Galaxy and the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy.[109][110]

Starburst
Main article: Starburst galaxy

M82, a starburst galaxy that has ten times the star

formation of a "normal" galaxy[111]
Stars are created within galaxies from a reserve of cold gas that forms
giant molecular clouds. Some galaxies have been observed to form stars at an
exceptional rate, which is known as a starburst. If they continue to do so, they would
consume their reserve of gas in a time span less than the galaxy's lifespan. Hence
starburst activity usually lasts only about ten million years, a relatively brief period in
a galaxy's history. Starburst galaxies were more common during the universe's early
history,[112] but still contribute an estimated 15% to total star production.[113]
Starburst galaxies are characterized by dusty concentrations of gas and the
appearance of newly formed stars, including massive stars that ionize the
surrounding clouds to create H II regions.[114] These stars
produce supernova explosions, creating expanding remnants that interact powerfully
with the surrounding gas. These outbursts trigger a chain reaction of star-building
that spreads throughout the gaseous region. Only when the available gas is nearly
consumed or dispersed does the activity end.[112]

Starbursts are often associated with merging or interacting galaxies. The prototype
example of such a starburst-forming interaction is M82, which experienced a close
encounter with the larger M81. Irregular galaxies often exhibit spaced knots of
starburst activity.[115]

Radio galaxy
Main article: Radio galaxy

Hercules A, supergiant elliptical radio galaxy

A radio galaxy is a galaxy with giant regions of radio emission extending well beyond
its visible structure. These energetic radio lobes are powered by jets from its active
galactic nucleus.[116] Radio galaxies are classified according to their Fanaroff–Riley
classification. The FR I class have lower radio luminosity and exhibit structures
which are more elongated; the FR II class are higher radio luminosity. The
correlation of radio luminosity and structure suggests that the sources in these two
types of galaxies may differ.[117]

Radio galaxies can also be classified as giant radio galaxies (GRGs), whose radio
emissions can extend to scales of megaparsecs (3.26 million light-
years). Alcyoneus is an FR II class low-excitation radio galaxy which has the largest
observed radio emission, with lobed structures spanning 5 megaparsecs (16×106 ly).
For comparison, another similarly sized giant radio galaxy is 3C 236, with lobes 15
million light-years across. It should however be noted that radio emissions
are not always considered part of the main galaxy itself.[118]

A giant radio galaxy is a special class of objects characterized by the presence of

radio lobes generated by relativistic jets powered by the central
galaxy's supermassive black hole. Giant radio galaxies are different from ordinary
radio galaxies in that they can extend to much larger scales, reaching upwards to
several megaparsecs across, far larger than the diameters of their host galaxies.[119]

A "normal" radio galaxy do not have a source that is a supermassive black hole or
monster neutron star; instead the source is synchrotron radiation from relativistic
electrons accelerated by supernova. These sources are comparatively short lived,
making the radio spectrum from normal radio galaxies an especially good way to
study star formation. [120]

Active galaxy
Main article: Active galactic nucleus

A jet of particles is being emitted from the core of the

elliptical radio galaxy M87.
Some observable galaxies are classified as "active" if they contain an active galactic
nucleus (AGN).[121] A significant portion of the galaxy's total energy output is emitted
by the active nucleus instead of its stars, dust and interstellar medium. There are
multiple classification and naming schemes for AGNs, but those in the lower ranges
of luminosity are called Seyfert galaxies, while those with luminosities much greater
than that of the host galaxy are known as quasi-stellar objects or quasars. Models of
AGNs suggest that a significant fraction of their light is shifted to far-infrared
frequencies because optical and UV emission in the nucleus is absorbed and
remitted by dust and gas surrounding it.[122]

The standard model for an active galactic nucleus is based on an accretion disc that
forms around a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the galaxy's core region. The
radiation from an active galactic nucleus results from the gravitational energy of
matter as it falls toward the black hole from the disc.[123][124] The AGN's luminosity
depends on the SMBH's mass and the rate at which matter falls onto it. In about 10%
of these galaxies, a diametrically opposed pair of energetic jets ejects particles from
the galaxy core at velocities close to the speed of light. The mechanism for
producing these jets is not well understood.[125]

Seyfert galaxy
Main article: Seyfert galaxy
Seyfert galaxies are one of the two largest groups of active galaxies, along with
quasars. They have quasar-like nuclei (very luminous, distant and bright sources of
electromagnetic radiation) with very high surface brightnesses; but unlike quasars,
their host galaxies are clearly detectable.[126] Seen through a telescope, a Seyfert
galaxy appears like an ordinary galaxy with a bright star superimposed atop the core.
Seyfert galaxies are divided into two principal subtypes based on the frequencies
observed in their spectra.[127]

Quasar
Main article: Quasar
Quasars are the most energetic and distant members of active galactic nuclei.
Extremely luminous, they were first identified as high redshift sources of
electromagnetic energy, including radio waves and visible light, that appeared more
similar to stars than to extended sources similar to galaxies. Their luminosity can be
100 times that of the Milky Way.[128] The nearest known quasar, Markarian 231, is
about 581 million light-years from Earth,[129] while others have been discovered as far
away as UHZ1, roughly 13.2 billion light-years distant.[130][131] Quasars are noteworthy
for providing the first demonstration of the phenomenon that gravity can act as a lens
for light.[132]

Other AGNs
Blazars are believed to be active galaxies with a relativistic jet pointed in the
direction of Earth. A radio galaxy emits radio frequencies from relativistic jets. A
unified model of these types of active galaxies explains their differences based on
the observer's position.[125]

Possibly related to active galactic nuclei (as well as starburst regions) are low-
ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs). The emission from LINER-type
galaxies is dominated by weakly ionized elements. The excitation sources for the
weakly ionized lines include post-AGB stars, AGN, and shocks.[133] Approximately
one-third of nearby galaxies are classified as containing LINER nuclei.[124][133][134]

Luminous infrared galaxy

Main article: Luminous infrared galaxy
Luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) are galaxies with luminosities—the
measurement of electromagnetic power output—above 1011 L☉ (solar luminosities).
In most cases, most of their energy comes from large numbers of young stars which
heat surrounding dust, which reradiates the energy in the infrared. Luminosity high
enough to be a LIRG requires a star formation rate of at least 18 M☉ yr−1. Ultra-
luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) are at least ten times more luminous still and
form stars at rates >180 M☉ yr−1. Many LIRGs also emit radiation from an AGN.[135]
[136]
Infrared galaxies emit more energy in the infrared than all other wavelengths
combined, with peak emission typically at wavelengths of 60 to 100 microns. LIRGs
are believed to be created from the strong interaction and merger of spiral galaxies.
[137]
While uncommon in the local universe, LIRGs and ULIRGS were more prevalent
when the universe was younger.[136]

Physical diameters
Galaxies do not have a definite boundary by their nature, and are characterized by a
gradually decreasing stellar density as a function of increasing distance from their
center, making measurements of their true extents difficult. Nevertheless,
astronomers over the past few decades have made several criteria in defining the
sizes of galaxies.

Angular diameter
As early as the time of Edwin Hubble in 1936, there have been attempts to
characterize the diameters of galaxies. The earliest efforts were based on the
observed angle subtended by the galaxy and its estimated distance, leading to
an angular diameter (also called "metric diameter").[138] This type of measurement is
subject to two significant issues, namely that the estimated distance to the galaxy
must be corrected for the redshift-related space expansion and that collections of
angular-diameter data are subject to selection bias as more distant observations
preferentially select the most luminous objects.[139]

Isophotal diameter
The isophotal diameter is introduced as a conventional way of measuring a galaxy's
size based on its apparent surface brightness.[140] Isophotes are curves in a diagram -
such as a picture of a galaxy - that adjoins points of equal brightnesses, and are
useful in defining the extent of the galaxy. The apparent brightness flux of a galaxy is
measured in units of magnitudes per square arcsecond (mag/arcsec2; sometimes
expressed as mag arcsec−2), which defines the brightness depth of the isophote. To
illustrate how this unit works, a typical galaxy has a brightness flux of 18
mag/arcsec2 at its central region. This brightness is equivalent to the light of an 18th
magnitude hypothetical point object (like a star) being spread out evenly in a one
square arcsecond area of the sky.[141] The isophotal diameter is typically defined as
the region enclosing all the light down to 25 mag/arcsec2 in the blue B-band,[142] which
is then referred to as the D25 standard.[143]

Examples of isophotal diameters (25.0 B-mag/arcsec2 isophote)

galaxy diameter reference

Large Magellanic Cloud 9.96 kiloparsecs (32,500 light-years) [144]

Milky Way 26.8 kiloparsecs (87,400 light-years) [9]

Messier 87 40.55 kiloparsecs (132,000 light-years) [145]

Andromeda Galaxy 46.58 kiloparsecs (152,000 light-years) [146]

Effective radius (half-light) and its variations

The half-light radius (also known as effective radius; Re) is a measure that is based
on the galaxy's overall brightness flux. This is the radius upon which half, or 50%, of
the total brightness flux of the galaxy was emitted. This was first proposed by Gérard
de Vaucouleurs in 1948.[147] The choice of using 50% was arbitrary, but proved to be
useful in further works by R. A. Fish in 1963,[148] where he established a luminosity
concentration law that relates the brightnesses of elliptical galaxies and their
respective Re, and by José Luis Sérsic in 1968[149] that defined a mass-radius relation
in galaxies.[140]

In defining Re, it is necessary that the overall brightness flux galaxy should be
captured, with a method employed by Bershady in 2000 suggesting to measure
twice the size where the brightness flux of an arbitrarily chosen radius, defined as
the local flux, divided by the overall average flux equals to 0.2.[150] Using half-light
radius allows a rough estimate of a galaxy's size, but is not particularly helpful in
determining its morphology.[151]
Variations of this method exist. In particular, in the ESO-Uppsala Catalogue of
Galaxies values of 50%, 70%, and 90% of the total blue light (the light detected
through a B-band specific filter) had been used to calculate a galaxy's diameter.[152]

Petrosian magnitude
First described by Vahe Petrosian in 1976,[153] a modified version of this method has
been used by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This method employs a
mathematical model on a galaxy whose radius is determined by the azimuthally
(horizontal) averaged profile of its brightness flux. In particular, the SDSS employed
the Petrosian magnitude in the R-band (658 nm, in the red part of the visible
spectrum) to ensure that the brightness flux of a galaxy would be captured as much
as possible while counteracting the effects of background noise. For a galaxy whose
brightness profile is exponential, it is expected to capture all of its brightness flux,
and 80% for galaxies that follow a profile that follows de Vaucouleurs's law.[154]

Petrosian magnitudes have the advantage of being redshift and distance

independent, allowing the measurement of the galaxy's apparent size since the
Petrosian radius is defined in terms of the galaxy's overall luminous flux.[155]

A critique of an earlier version of this method has been issued by the Infrared
Processing and Analysis Center,[156] with the method causing a magnitude of error
(upwards to 10%) of the values than using isophotal diameter. The use of Petrosian
magnitudes also have the disadvantage of missing most of the light outside the
Petrosian aperture, which is defined relative to the galaxy's overall brightness profile,
especially for elliptical galaxies, with higher signal-to-noise ratios on higher distances
and redshifts.[157] A correction for this method has been issued by Graham et al. in
2005, based on the assumption that galaxies follow Sérsic's law.[155]

Near-infrared method
This method has been used by 2MASS as an adaptation from the previously used
methods of isophotal measurement. Since 2MASS operates in the near infrared,
which has the advantage of being able to recognize dimmer, cooler, and older stars,
it has a different form of approach compared to other methods that normally use B-
filter. The detail of the method used by 2MASS has been described thoroughly in a
document by Jarrett et al., with the survey measuring several parameters.[158]

The standard aperture ellipse (area of detection) is defined by the infrared isophote
at the Ks band (roughly 2.2 μm wavelength) of 20 mag/arcsec2. Gathering the overall
luminous flux of the galaxy has been employed by at least four methods: the first
being a circular aperture extending 7 arcseconds from the center, an isophote at 20
mag/arcsec2, a "total" aperture defined by the radial light distribution that covers the
supposed extent of the galaxy, and the Kron aperture (defined as 2.5 times the first-
moment radius, an integration of the flux of the "total" aperture).[158]

Larger-scale structures
Main articles: Observable universe § Large-scale structure, Galaxy filament,
and Galaxy groups and clusters
Seyfert's Sextet is an example of a compact galaxy group.

Deep-sky surveys show that galaxies are often found in groups and clusters. Solitary
galaxies that have not significantly interacted with other galaxies of comparable
mass in the past few billion years are relatively scarce.[159] Only about 5% of the
galaxies surveyed are isolated in this sense.[160][161] However, they may have interacted
and even merged with other galaxies in the past,[162] and may still be orbited by
smaller satellite galaxies.[163]

On the largest scale, the universe is continually expanding, resulting in an average

increase in the separation between individual galaxies (see Hubble's law).
Associations of galaxies can overcome this expansion on a local scale through their
mutual gravitational attraction. These associations formed early, as clumps of dark
matter pulled their respective galaxies together. Nearby groups later merged to form
larger-scale clusters. This ongoing merging process, as well as an influx of infalling
gas, heats the intergalactic gas in a cluster to very high temperatures of 30–
100 megakelvins.[164] About 70–80% of a cluster's mass is in the form of dark matter,
with 10–30% consisting of this heated gas and the remaining few percent in the form
of galaxies.[165]

Most galaxies are gravitationally bound to a number of other galaxies. These form
a fractal-like hierarchical distribution of clustered structures, with the smallest such
associations being termed groups. A group of galaxies is the most common type of
galactic cluster; these formations contain the majority of galaxies (as well as most of
the baryonic mass) in the universe.[166][167] To remain gravitationally bound to such a
group, each member galaxy must have a sufficiently low velocity to prevent it from
escaping (see Virial theorem). If there is insufficient kinetic energy, however, the
group may evolve into a smaller number of galaxies through mergers.[168]

Clusters of galaxies consist of hundreds to thousands of galaxies bound together by

gravity.[169] Clusters of galaxies are often dominated by a single giant elliptical galaxy,
known as the brightest cluster galaxy, which, over time, tidally destroys its satellite
galaxies and adds their mass to its own.[170]

Southern plane of the Milky Way from submillimeter

wavelengths[171]
Superclusters contain tens of thousands of galaxies, which are found in clusters,
groups and sometimes individually. At the supercluster scale, galaxies are arranged
into sheets and filaments surrounding vast empty voids.[172] Above this scale, the
universe appears to be the same in all directions (isotropic and homogeneous),
[173]
though this notion has been challenged in recent years by numerous findings of
large-scale structures that appear to be exceeding this scale. The Hercules–Corona
Borealis Great Wall, currently the largest structure in the universe found so far, is 10
billion light-years (three gigaparsecs) in length.[174][175][176]

The Milky Way galaxy is a member of an association named the Local Group, a
relatively small group of galaxies that has a diameter of approximately
one megaparsec. The Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy are the two brightest
galaxies within the group; many of the other member galaxies are dwarf companions
of these two.[177] The Local Group itself is a part of a cloud-like structure within
the Virgo Supercluster, a large, extended structure of groups and clusters of galaxies
centered on the Virgo Cluster.[178] In turn, the Virgo Supercluster is a portion of
the Laniakea Supercluster.[179]

Magnetic fields
Galaxies have magnetic fields of their own. A galaxy's magnetic field influences its
dynamics in multiple ways, including affecting the formation of spiral arms and
transporting angular momentum in gas clouds. The latter effect is particularly
important, as it is a necessary factor for the gravitational collapse of those clouds,
and thus for star formation.[180]

The typical average equipartition strength for spiral galaxies is about 10 μG

(microgauss) or 1 nT (nanotesla). By comparison, the Earth's magnetic field has an
average strength of about 0.3 G (Gauss) or 30 μT (microtesla). Radio-faint galaxies
like M 31 and M33, the Milky Way's neighbors, have weaker fields (about 5 μG),
while gas-rich galaxies with high star-formation rates, like M 51, M 83 and NGC
6946, have 15 μG on average. In prominent spiral arms, the field strength can be up
to 25 μG, in regions where cold gas and dust are also concentrated. The strongest
total equipartition fields (50–100 μG) were found in starburst galaxies—for example,
in M 82 and the Antennae; and in nuclear starburst regions, such as the centers of
NGC 1097 and other barred galaxies.[180]

Formation and evolution

Main article: Galaxy formation and evolution
Formation

Artist's impression of a protocluster forming in the

early universe[181]
Current models of the formation of galaxies in the early universe are based on
the ΛCDM model. About 300,000 years after the Big Bang, atoms
of hydrogen and helium began to form, in an event called recombination. Nearly all
the hydrogen was neutral (non-ionized) and readily absorbed light, and no stars had
yet formed. As a result, this period has been called the "dark ages". It was from
density fluctuations (or anisotropic irregularities) in this primordial matter that larger
structures began to appear. As a result, masses of baryonic matter started to
condense within cold dark matter halos.[182][183] These primordial structures allowed
gasses to condense in to protogalaxies, large scale gas clouds that were precursors
to the first galaxies.[184]: 6

As gas falls in to the gravity of the dark matter halos, its pressure and temperature
rise. To condense further, the gas must radiate energy. This process was slow in the
early universe dominated by hydrogen atoms and molecules which are inefficient
radiators compared to heavier elements. As clumps of gas aggregate forming
rotating disks, temperatures and pressures continue to increase. Some places within
the disk reach high enough density to form stars.

Artist impression of a young galaxy accreting material

Once protogalaxies began to form and contract, the first halo stars, called Population
III stars, appeared within them.[185] These were composed of primordial gas, almost
entirely of hydrogen and helium. Emission from the first stars heats the remaining
gas helping to trigger additional star formation; the ultraviolet light emission from the
first generation of stars re-ionized the surrounding neutral hydrogen in expanding
spheres eventually reaching the entire universe, an event called reionization.[186] The
most massive stars collapse in violent supernova explosions releasing heavy
elements ("metals") into the interstellar medium.[187][184]: 14 This metal content is
incorporated into population II stars.

Theoretical models for early galaxy formation have been verified and informed by a
large number and variety of sophisticated astronomical observations.[184]: 43 The
photometric observations generally need spectroscopic confirmation due the large
number mechanisms that can introduce systematic errors. For example, a high
redshift (z ~ 16) photometric observation by James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
was later corrected to be closer to z ~ 5.[188] Nevertheless, confirmed observations
from the JWST and other observatories are accumulating, allowing systematic
comparison of early galaxies to predictions of theory.[189]

Evidence for individual Population III stars in early galaxies is even more
challenging. Even seemingly confirmed spectroscopic evidence may turn out to have
other origins. For example, astronomers reported HeII emission evidence
for Population III stars in the Cosmos Redshift 7 galaxy, with a redshift value of 6.60.
 Subsequent observations[191] found metallic emission lines, OIII, inconsistent with
[190]

an early-galaxy star.[185]: 108

Different components of near-infrared background

light detected by the Hubble Space Telescope in deep-sky surveys[192]
Evolution
Once stars begin to form, emit radiation, and in some cases explode, the process of
galaxy formation becomes very complex, involving interactions between the forces of
gravity, radiation, and thermal energy. Many details are still poorly understood.[193]

Within a billion years of a galaxy's formation, key structures begin to appear.

[194]
Globular clusters, the central supermassive black hole, and a galactic bulge of
metal-poor Population II stars form. The creation of a supermassive black hole
appears to play a key role in actively regulating the growth of galaxies by limiting the
total amount of additional matter added.[195] During this early epoch, galaxies undergo
a major burst of star formation.[196]

During the following two billion years, the accumulated matter settles into a galactic
disc.[197] A galaxy will continue to absorb infalling material from high-velocity
clouds and dwarf galaxies throughout its life.[198] This matter is mostly hydrogen and
helium. The cycle of stellar birth and death slowly increases the abundance of heavy
elements, eventually allowing the formation of planets.[199]

Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF)

XDF view field compared to the angular size of the Moon. Several thousand galaxies, each
consisting of billions of stars, are in this small view.
XDF (2012) view: Each light speck is a galaxy, some of which are as old as 13.2 billion years[200] –
the observable universe is estimated to contain 200 billion to two trillion galaxies.

XDF image shows (from left) fully mature galaxies, nearly mature galaxies (from five to nine
billion years ago), and protogalaxies, blazing with young stars (beyond nine billion years).

Star formation rates in galaxies depend upon their local environment. Isolated 'void'
galaxies have highest rate per stellar mass, with 'field' galaxies associated with spiral
galaxies having lower rates and galaxies in dense cluster having the lowest rates.[201]

The evolution of galaxies can be significantly affected by interactions and collisions.

Mergers of galaxies were common during the early epoch, and the majority of
galaxies were peculiar in morphology.[202] Given the distances between the stars, the
great majority of stellar systems in colliding galaxies will be unaffected. However,
gravitational stripping of the interstellar gas and dust that makes up the spiral arms
produces a long train of stars known as tidal tails. Examples of these formations can
be seen in NGC 4676[203] or the Antennae Galaxies.[204]

The Milky Way galaxy and the nearby Andromeda Galaxy are moving toward each
other at about 130 km/s, and—depending upon the lateral movements—the two
might collide in about five to six billion years. Although the Milky Way has never
collided with a galaxy as large as Andromeda before, it has collided and merged with
other galaxies in the past.[205] Cosmological simulations indicate that, 11 billion years
ago, it merged with a particularly large galaxy that has been labeled the Kraken.[206][207]

Such large-scale interactions are rare. As time passes, mergers of two systems of
equal size become less common. Most bright galaxies have remained fundamentally
unchanged for the last few billion years, and the net rate of star formation probably
also peaked about ten billion years ago.[208]

Future trends
Main article: Future of an expanding universe
Spiral galaxies, like the Milky Way, produce new generations of stars as long as they
have dense molecular clouds of interstellar hydrogen in their spiral arms.[209] Elliptical
galaxies are largely devoid of this gas, and so form few new stars.[210] The supply of
star-forming material is finite; once stars have converted the available supply of
hydrogen into heavier elements, new star formation will come to an end.[211][212]

The current era of star formation is expected to continue for up to one hundred billion
years, and then the "stellar age" will wind down after about ten trillion to one hundred
trillion years (1013–1014 years), as the smallest, longest-lived stars in the visible
universe, tiny red dwarfs, begin to fade. At the end of the stellar age, galaxies will be
composed of compact objects: brown dwarfs, white dwarfs that are cooling or cold
("black dwarfs"), neutron stars, and black holes. Eventually, as a result
of gravitational relaxation, all stars will either fall into central supermassive black
holes or be flung into intergalactic space as a result of collisions.[211][213]

Gallery


Galaxies (left/top, right/bottom): NGC 7541, NGC 3021, NGC 5643, NGC 3254, NGC
3147, NGC 105, NGC 2608, NGC 3583, NGC 3147, MRK 1337, NGC 5861, NGC 2525, NGC
1015, UGC 9391, NGC 691, NGC 7678, NGC 2442, NGC 5468, NGC 5917, NGC 4639, NGC
3972, The Antennae Galaxies, NGC 5584, M106, NGC 7250, NGC 3370, NGC 5728, NGC
4424, NGC 1559, NGC 3982, NGC 1448, NGC 4680, M101, NGC 1365, NGC 7329, NGC 3447