spiral galaxy
Rotating stellar pinwheel
A spiral galaxy is a type of galaxy with a rotating disk of stars, gas, and dust arranged in curved arms that wind outward from a bright central bulge.
The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy.
These structures form through gravitational dynamics and appear pinwheel-shaped when viewed from above: The Hubble telescope captured stunning images of a distant spiral galaxy.
- grand designComprehensive underlying plan
- spinning diskCircular object in rotation
- stellar populationsStars grouped by age and composition
- starsLuminous celestial bodies
- star formationDense cloud becomes sun
cosmic dust · Solar System · dark matter · supermassive black hole · arms · telescope · celestial object · dust · core · elliptical · starlight · night sky · outer space · universe · rotation · disk · celestial · barred
- spacespace, sun, moon, stars, star
- space objectsstar cluster, nebula, planet, quasar, star
- space photosnebula, supernova, black hole, star cluster, solar eclipse
- spiralshelix, coil, whorl, swirl, vortex
- GalaxiesAndromeda, ellipticals, dwarfs, Whirlpool, lenticular
- starsstars, Sirius, Polaris, sol, sun