Types of Galaxies

Types of Galaxies: real images of Spiral galaxy, Barred spiral galaxy, Elliptical galaxy, Lenticular galaxy, Irregular galaxy, Ring galaxy and Interacting galaxies, each labelled
Real images. Credits: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI) and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgment: M. West (ESO, Chile); NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).

7 types

Explore the main types of galaxy, from spirals like our Milky Way to smooth ellipticals and colliding pairs, each shown in a real Hubble image.

In this collection

  1. Spiral Galaxy
  2. Barred Spiral Galaxy
  3. Elliptical Galaxy
  4. Lenticular Galaxy
  5. Irregular Galaxy
  6. Ring Galaxy
  7. Interacting Galaxies

Each type up close

About this topic

A galaxy is a vast collection of stars, gas, dust and dark matter held together by gravity. Astronomers sort galaxies mainly by their shape. Our collection shows the main types, each illustrated by a real galaxy photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is a barred spiral, as is our neighbour the Andromeda Galaxy. Galaxy shapes can change over time, especially when galaxies pass close to each other or merge.

The galaxies in our collection

TypeExample shownDistance from EarthConstellation
SpiralWhirlpool Galaxy (M51)About 25 million light-yearsCanes Venatici
Barred spiralNGC 1300About 60 million light-yearsEridanus
EllipticalNGC 1132About 300 million light-yearsEridanus
LenticularNGC 5866About 45 million light-yearsDraco
IrregularNGC 1427AAbout 50 million light-yearsEridanus
RingHoag’s ObjectAbout 550 million light-yearsSerpens
InteractingArp 273About 300 million light-yearsAndromeda

Distances are approximate and taken from the ESA/Hubble image pages.

Sources

All Space & Astronomy