The Large Magellanic Cloud, an irregular galaxy.
Click on image for full size
© Loke Kun Tan (StarryScapes)
Related links:
A Matter of Scale - interactive showing the sizes of things, from very tiny to huge - from NSF
Irregular Galaxies
Any galaxy which cannot be classified as either spiral or elliptical
is called an irregular galaxy. In some sense every irregular galaxy
is unique in it's appearance. It doesn't have to look like the
others. It just isn't a spiral or an elliptical.
There are two types of irregulars. Irr I galaxies are similar to
spirals because they have lots of gas and young stars, but they don't
have spiral arms. Irr II galaxies are distorted and strange looking.
Their appearance leads some astronomers to think that Irr II galaxies
may have collided with another galaxy at some time during their lives.
If you live south of the Equator, you may be able to see two irregular type
galaxies in your night sky. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are
two very nearby irregular galaxies which are orbitting the Milky Way.
Because they are nearby and fairly bright, they can be seen with the
unaided eye.
You might also be interested in:
During the early 1900's, which is not very long ago, astronomers were unaware that there were other galaxies outside our own Milky Way Galaxy. When they saw a small fuzzy patch in the sky through their
...more
In the 1960's, the United States launched some satellites to look for very high energy light, called Gamma Rays. Gamma Rays are produced whenever a nuclear bomb explodes. The satellites found many bursts
...more
Neutron Stars are the end point of a massive star's life. When a really massive star runs out of nuclear fuel in its core the core begins to collapse under gravity. When the core collapses the entire star
...more
Spiral galaxies may remind you of a pinwheel. They are rotating disks of mostly hydrogen gas, dust and stars. Through a telescope or binoculars, the bright nucleus of the galaxy may be visible but the
...more
When stars like our own sun die they will become white dwarfs. As a star like our sun is running out of fuel in its core it begins to bloat into a red giant. This will happen to our sun in 5 Billion years.
...more
What's in a Name: Arabic for "head of the demon" Claim to Fame: Represents Medusa's eye in Perseus. A special variable star that "winks" every 3 days. Type of Star: Blue-white Main Sequence Star, and
...more
What's in a Name: Nicknamed the "Pup" because it is the companion to Sirius, "the Dog Star" Claim to Fame: Highly compressed white dwarf remnant. Density about 50,000 times that of water. It has approximately
...more
