This illustration compares the size of our own Milky Way galaxy to gargantuan galaxy LEDA 1313424, nicknamed the Bullseye. The Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years in diameter, and the Bullseye is almost two-and-a-half times larger, at 250,000 light-years across.
NASA, ESA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)
LEDA 1313424, aptly nicknamed the Bullseye, is two and a half times the size of our Milky Way and has nine rings — six more than any other known galaxy. High-resolution imagery from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope confirmed eight rings, and data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii confirmed a ninth. Hubble and Keck also confirmed which galaxy dove through the Bullseye, creating these rings: the blue dwarf galaxy that sits to its immediate center-left. NASA, ESA, Imad Pasha (Yale), Pieter van Dokkum (Yale)
Spiral Galaxies – M101, similar to our own Milky Way
M101, also known as the Pinwheel galaxy, was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana) and STScI; CFHT Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/J.-C. Cuillandre/Coelum; NOAO Image: G. Jacoby, B. Bohannan, M. Hanna/NOAO/AURA/NSF
Elliptical galaxies such as NGC 2685
NGC 2865, shown here in an image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, is an elliptical galaxy located 100 million light-years away. ESA/Hubble & NASA
Lenticular Galaxies like NGC 4886
NGC 4886, imaged here by the Hubble Space Telescope, contains primarily old stars but no spiral arms. ESA/Hubble & NASA. Acknowledgement: Gilles Chapdelaine
Irregular Galaxies like NGC 5264
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of NGC 5264, an irregular dwarf galaxy. ESA/Hubble & NASA
Given enough time, Earth (4.543 billion years) and Mars (4.603 billion years) have created some interesting topology thanks to the effects of wind, erosion and other meteorologic and geologic…
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