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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Galaxies & Deep Sky

Elliptical galaxy

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In astronomy & space, elliptical galaxy means: A galaxy with a smooth, oval or round shape and no spiral arms. It contains mostly old, reddish stars and very little gas for making new ones.

In Turkish: eliptik gökada, eliptik galaksi

How it is used

Used when classifying galaxies. The largest elliptical galaxies sit at the centres of galaxy clusters and often grew through mergers of smaller galaxies. M87, home of the first black hole ever imaged, is a giant elliptical.

Example sentences

  1. Elliptical galaxies form few new stars because they have lost most of their gas.

  2. If the Milky Way and Andromeda merge one day, they will probably form a large elliptical galaxy.

Common collocations

  • giant elliptical galaxy
  • dwarf elliptical galaxy
  • elliptical galaxies in clusters
  • galaxyAn enormous system of stars, gas, dust and dark matter held together by gravity. A large galaxy can contain hundreds of billions of stars.
  • spiral galaxyA flat, rotating galaxy with a bright central bulge and arms that curve outwards like a pinwheel. The arms are rich in young stars, gas and dust.
  • supermassive black holeA black hole with the mass of millions or billions of Suns. Almost every large galaxy, including the Milky Way, has one at its centre.
  • star clusterA group of stars born from the same cloud and held together by gravity. Open clusters are loose and young; globular clusters are dense balls of very old stars.

More terms: Galaxies & Deep Sky

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