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GALAXIES

Galaxies are a vast collections of many stars. 

(There are about100 billion stars in a Galaxy!)

There are many (estimated between100 billion and 200 billion) Galaxies in the Universe.

(The newly launched James Webb Space Telescope is expected to reveal more information about early galaxies in the universe)

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Our Earth (Planet) orbits around our Sun (star) in our "Solar System" in our Milky Way Galaxy.

Galaxies, European Space Agency

Thousands of Galaxies are in a very small area.

If you stand outdoors at night extending your arm and hand out from your face to cover the moon with your thumb, the thousands/numbers of galaxies in the above image would cover only about the size of a pinhead on your thumb.

Galaxies come in many different shapes and sizes. Most galaxies that have been observed/photographed are spiral or pinwheel shaped. (Spiral is a shape commonly found in the Universe.) Very large galaxies seem to have a Black Hole at their center. About a third of known galaxies are flat spirals with bulging centers. Astronomers believe that galaxies have spiral arms because galaxies rotate – or spin around a central axis.

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  • Spiral Galaxies (our Milky Way)

  • Barred Spiral Galaxy

  • Elliptical Galaxies are curved

  • Irregular Galaxies do not seem to have any special shape but often look like messy spirals

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Top: Milky Way Galaxy (Spriral Galaxy)

Lower: Milky Way Galaxy from Earth, Sahara Desert, Africa

(Web Photos: NatGeoKids)

Our Location in the Universe

We are on Earth, orbiting our Sun, in our Solar System, in one of the spiral arms of Milky Way Galaxy, in our "Local Group", in our "Local SuperCluster", in ...

the Universe!!!

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