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the elliptical galaxy has a round or oval shape the spiral galaxy has a hurricane shape
The origin of these different shapes would lie in the particular momentum of the constituent stars at the time they first coalesced into a galaxy under their mutual gravitational attraction.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoThe main difference between these two types of galaxies is their shape, which is implied by their name (i.e. elliptical galaxies are elliptical, and spiral galaxies are spiral). Since this fact is pretty obvious, the following list details how they differ from one another:
Elliptical Galaxies
- Have minimal amounts of interstellar matter
- Have little structure
- Have few, if any, open clusters
- Have fewer young or forming stars
- Are composed mostly of older stars
- The stars that compose this type tend to orbit the centre of the galaxy in random directions
- The stars contain lower amounts of heavier elements
- Can grow to be gigantic in size - the largest galaxies in the universe are giant ellipticals
- May be the result of collisions (and mergers) between two or more galaxies
- Has a bulge but no disk
Spiral Galaxies:
- Tend to have older stars towards the centre and younger stars towards the edge
- Can be tightly wound (an SA-class galaxy) or quite broad (an Sc-class galaxy).
- Can have a linear, bar-shaped band of stars extending outwards from the central core
- Has a bulge and disk
- Have open star clusters
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoAn elliptical galaxy is round. A spiral galaxy is shaped like a spiral.
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoThere are actually more elliptical galaxies in the universe than spiral galaxies. However, due to their age and dimness they are often more difficult to identify.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoElliptical galaxies have almost no gas or dust between the stars.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoElliptical galaxies have an ellipsoid shape while spiral galaxies are shaped as a flat, rotating disk.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoElliptical galaxies have older stars and less gas and dust. spiral plantes have medium aged stars and more gas and dust.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoPredominately because spiral galaxies have younger and hotter stars than elliptical galaxies.
They may also be closer to us than elliptical galaxies.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoSpiral galaxies contain younger stars than elliptical galaxies
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Which galaxy is bigger a elliptical or irregular?
What types of stars do elliptical galaxies usually have?
Yes. However, the current rate of star creation is less than when the galaxies were younger.Yes. However, the current rate of star creation is less than when the galaxies were younger.Yes. However, the current rate of star creation is less than when the galaxies were younger.Yes. However, the current rate of star creation is less than when the galaxies were younger.
What are four general shapes of galaxies?
Galaxies have different shapes because of what happens throughout their lives. Any galaxy, at one point or another, will encounter another or many galaxies. When encounters occur, gravity takes over. The larger of the two galaxies will consume the smaller one, this is called galactic cannibalism. The act of absorbing another galaxy will change the size of the galaxy it's shape and even the speed of its rotation. Our own galaxy, The Milky Way, is as large it is (100000-150000 Light years across.) because of galactic cannibalism. The Milky Way is as we speak consuming two other small galaxy. And in about 2 billion years, our nearest nieghbor, the Andromeda Galaxy, will collide with our galaxy. Both the Milky Way and Adromeda galaxy are spiral galaxies, but after they collide the resulting new galaxy will an elliptical galaxy, which looks like a bright white sphere.
Are nebulas in elliptical galaxies?
Because of their age, elliptical galaxies are believed to have older stars and less gas and dust in their insterstellar medium than other types of galaxies, and thus their nebulae are less common. However, nebulae are presumed to exist in almost all galaxies; and some recent observations hint that the central black holes of elliptical galaxies may tend to preserve interstellar gas by preventing it from cooling enough for star formation.
Galaxy types from largest to smallest type?
It doesn't really work that way. The types aren't exactly related to size, but rather to shapes. Dwarf galaxies of course are the smallest; but other than that, a spiral galaxy can come in different sizes; so can an irregular galaxy or an elliptical galaxy.
Can galaxies divided into types base on size?
are spiral galaxies are generally older than elliptical
What galaxies are sometimes called dwarf galaxies being typically smaller than spiral galaxies?
Elliptical galaxies are sometime called dwarf galaxies.
What galaxy is smaller than a Spiral and Elliptical Galaxy?
By virtue of their name, dwarf galaxies are smaller. Most galaxies are dwarf galaxies.
What is a major difference between elliptical galaxies and spiral galaxies?
Eliptical galaxies have older stars than spirals and elipticals are oval-shaped.
Galaxies are classified by their shape what are they called?
There are three types of galaxies, all of which are the same, with the exception of their shapes. There are the Elliptical galaxies (football-shaped) the Spiral galaxies (like the Milky way; vortex-shaped) and Irregular galaxies (all shapes other than spiral and football shaped).
Which galaxy is bigger a elliptical or irregular?
How old are the stars in spiral galaxies?
A spiral galaxy is just a type of galaxy but I can tell you that the stars in the middle are the oldest and the ones on the outside are the youngest.
Is there more than one kind of galaxy?
Yes, However all galaxies are the same (simplified): A bunch of solar systems turning around a massive black hole. The forms are often very different, you have elliptical (elliptic formed) galaxies, spiral ("arms" from the center turning around it, circular) galaxies and irregular (irregular ;P) galaxies.
What are the characteristics of the galaxies?
Color. The type of star effects the color. Like temperature wise. Spiral galaxies are generally more blue than elliptical galaxies due to its stars. Size is another characteristic along with luminosity.
What types of stars do elliptical galaxies usually have?
Yes. However, the current rate of star creation is less than when the galaxies were younger.Yes. However, the current rate of star creation is less than when the galaxies were younger.Yes. However, the current rate of star creation is less than when the galaxies were younger.Yes. However, the current rate of star creation is less than when the galaxies were younger.
What are the four galaxies?
The 4 types of galaxies are spiral, barred spiral,elliptical and irregular. 1. Spiral galaxy is easiest to identify due to its spiral structure and has its dust and gas scattered out evenly. Two good examples are the Milky Way Galaxy and Andromeda Galaxy. 2. Barred Spiral looks somewhat like a spiral galaxy, but in the first stages. Rather than having the same look as the spiral galaxy, the gas and dust in a barred galaxy are compressed near the center, with unevenness of the gas and dust, even though it still forms somewhat of a spiral. 3. Elliptical Galaxies are one of the largest galaxies with billions of solar systems clustered to appear as one star. With dust and gas scattered throughout, these galaxies appear to be a round shape and tend to hardly contain interstellar matter. 4. Irregular galaxy is also easy to identify because it is poorly structured and are even sometimes called dwarf irregular galaxies.
Are all galaxies similar?
No. Some galaxies are shaped differently (irregular vs. spiral vs. elliptical), some spin in opposite directions, and some are bigger than others. However, they all contain stars and possibly solar systems.
