SPACE ATLASSTUDENT REFERENCE · GRADES 4–8
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Galaxies · Question

Are all galaxies shaped like the Milky Way?

The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy — but that's only one of three main shapes astronomers use to classify galaxies. Tap each card for a real named example.

Visual model

Three galaxy shapes.

SPIRAL

Rotating arms of stars

A flat, rotating disc with curved arms of young stars and gas — the Milky Way's shape.

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Example: the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), our nearest large galactic neighbor, is also a spiral — larger than the Milky Way.
ELLIPTICAL

A smooth, featureless glow

A rounded, football-shaped collection of mostly old stars with little gas left to form new ones — no spiral arms.

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Example: M87, a giant elliptical galaxy at the center of the Virgo Cluster, home to the first black hole ever directly imaged.
IRREGULAR

No defined shape

Galaxies with no organized structure — often the result of a collision or a close gravitational encounter with another galaxy.

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Example: the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, irregular dwarf galaxies visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere.
What's simplified

Real classification has more nuance.

01

It's a spectrum

Astronomers also classify "lenticular" galaxies, a disc shape between spiral and elliptical, and many galaxies show mixed features.

02

Shape can change

Galaxy collisions — including the Milky Way's future collision with Andromeda — can transform spirals into ellipticals over billions of years.

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Universe

How big is the universe?

See where galaxies fit in the full scale of the universe.

Universe scale ↗