Chapter 11 : Stars and Galaxies

in the Universe

Group Members : Foong Chi San (6)

Hooi Yoke Keih(7)
Hue Zi Qin (8)
Jenelle Wong Xing Yu(9)
Joey Lim Joo Yee(10)
Galaxies
This article is about the astronomical structure. For our
galaxy, see Milky Way. For other uses, see Galaxy
(disambiguation).
A galaxy is a gravitationally bound system of stars, stellar
remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter.The word
galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias literally "milky", a
reference to the Milky Way. Galaxies range in size from
dwarfs with just a few hundred million (108) stars to giants
with one hundred trillion (1014) stars,[3] each orbiting its
galaxy's center of mass.
Galaxies are categorized according to their visual
morphology as elliptical,spiral, or irregular.Many
galaxies are thought to have supermassive black
holes at their centers. The Milky Way's central
black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, has a mass
four million times greater than the Sun.As of March
2016, GN-z11 is the oldest and most distant
observed galaxy with a comoving distance of 32
billion light-years from Earth, and observed as it
existed just 400 million years after the Big Bang.
 Types of galaxies
Spiral
• A galaxy in which the stars and gas clouds are concentrated mainly
in one or more spiral arms.
• Example : Andromeda and The Milky Way

Elliptical
• A type of galaxy with an approximately ellipsoidal shape and a
smooth, nearly featureless image.
• Example : Ursa Major and Messier 87

Irregular
• Is a galaxy that does not have a distinct regular shape, unlike a spiral
or an elliptical galaxy.
• Example : Small Magellanic Cloud and Large Magellanic Cloud
THE MILKY WAY

Milky Way Solar System

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's
appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be
individually distinguished by the naked eye. From Earth, the Milky Way appears as a band because
its disc-shaped structure is viewed from within.
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with an estimated visible diameter between 170,000 and
200,000 light-years.It is estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars and at least that number of
planets.The dark matter halo around the Milky Way may span as much as 2 million light years. The
Solar System is located at a radius of about 27,000 light-years from the Galactic Center, on the
inner edge of the Orion Arm, one of the spiral-shaped concentrations of gas and dust. The stars in
the innermost 10,000 light-years form a bulge and one or more bars that radiate from the bulge .
At ease to say, our solar system is located at the edge of one of the spiral arms of the milky way.
 QUESTION TIME
1. What is galaxy?
Galaxy is a set of bodies consisting of millions of stars with gas
and dust particles.Thus, galaxy is also a gravitationally bound
system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark
matter.
2. Do you know what is spiral?
Spiral is a type of galaxy ,it is disc-shaped with spiral arms.It
consists of old stars at centre and young stars at the arms.Besides
that, spiral is also brighter than other forms of galaxy.
3. Where is our solar system located ?
Our solar system is located at the edge of one of the spiral arms
of the Milky Way.
THANK YOU