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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Galaxies & Deep Sky

Spiral galaxy

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

nounCommon term

In astronomy & space, spiral galaxy means: A 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.

In Turkish: sarmal gökada, spiral galaksi

How it is used

One of the main classes in the Hubble classification. Many spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way, have a bar of stars across the centre and are called barred spirals. Astronomers describe their arms as tightly or loosely wound.

Example sentences

  1. Andromeda is a large spiral galaxy, similar in size to our own.

  2. Seen edge-on, a spiral galaxy looks like a thin line with a bulge in the middle.

Common collocations

  • barred spiral galaxy
  • spiral arms
  • face-on spiral galaxy
  • edge-on spiral galaxy
  • galaxyAn enormous system of stars, gas, dust and dark matter held together by gravity. A large galaxy can contain hundreds of billions of stars.
  • elliptical galaxyA 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.
  • Milky WayThe barred spiral galaxy that contains our solar system and a few hundred billion stars. It also names the pale band of light it forms across a dark night sky.
  • Andromeda GalaxyThe nearest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, about 2.5 million light-years away. Under dark skies it can be seen with the naked eye as a faint smudge.

More terms: Galaxies & Deep Sky

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