1

Universe & Galaxies

2 Astronomy

 The study of objects and matter outside the Earth’s

atmosphere and of their physical and chemical
properties.
3 - Of what is the universe
made / composed?
 stars, planets, rocks, comets, asteroids, dark matter,
dark energy
4 - Of what is the universe
made / composed?
- Dark matter – theoretical unseen and undetectable
mass that adds to the gravity of a galaxy
- Dark energy – theoretical energy that might be causing
accelerated expansion of the universe
 5 Stars

- stars - huge balls of hot gases

that emits light

- stars are grouped together by

the millions and billions into
galaxies
 6 A. Astronomical distance
- measured in light years (ly)  a distance
measurement
- light year - the distance light travels in one
year
 1 light year = 9.5x1015m
 light travels at 3.0x108m/s
7 II. Galaxies

- galaxy - grouping of millions or billions of stars, and dust

and gas held together by gravity
- there are an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the
universe

A. 3 Types of Galaxies - classified by shape

8 II. Galaxies
1. Spiral - disk shaped with spiral arms of dust and gas
- dust and gas provide a place for new stars to form

- young stars are

bluish in color 
gives spiral
galaxies a blue tint

- looks like a pin wheel

9 Spiral Galaxies
10 II. Galaxies

2. Elliptical  most common type of galaxy

- spherical and egg shaped
 NO spiral arms,
little dust and gas
- generally have older
stars (reddish in color)
11 Elliptical Galaxy
12 II. Galaxies

- Range of sizes
a. Giant - trillions of stars, millions of light years in diameter
b. Dwarf - millions of stars, thousands of light years in
diameter
13 II. Galaxies
3. Irregular  least common type of galaxy
- NO well defined shape or structure
- some have little
dust or gas, some
have lots of dust
and gas
14 Irregular Galaxies
15 B. Milky Way galaxy

- the galaxy we live in

- consists of stars, and, clouds of dust and
gas between stars (interstellar matter)
- all the stars we see at night are in the
Milky Way galaxy (about 400 billion stars)
16 Milky Way Galaxy –
overhead view

- A huge bulge in
the center
 10,000 l.y. thick
17 B. Milky Way galaxy

- the nearest galaxy to

ours is the Andromeda
galaxy  2.6 million
l.y. away
 18 C. Gravity holds galaxies
together
- dust and gases and stars are attracted to each other by
gravity
- galaxies are grouped
into clusters  group
of galaxies bound
together by gravity
 19 C. Gravity holds galaxies together

- Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are in a cluster of ~45 galaxies

called the “Local Group”
- Superclusters - have
thousands of galaxies
 largest structure
in the universe