160 Elliptical Galaxies

Elliptical galaxies are those galaxies classified according to their shape and size. The shapes go from round – soccer-ball like – to extreme elongated – football-like – and are classified E0 (soccer ball shapes) to E5 (football shapes).Elliptical galaxies have very little dust and gas, and appear to be the oldest class of galaxies. They are not the dominant type of galaxy found in the Universe; some estimates place Elliptical populations are at around 10% to 15% of all galaxies.

Image of Round-shaped, soccer-ball like elliptical galaxy.
M87Public Domain | Image courtesy of NASA.

Image of Elongated, football-like shaped elliptical galaxy.
NGC 1316Public Domain | Image courtesy of NASA.

Image of Extremely elongated, football-like shaped elliptical galaxy.
NGC 1132Public Domain | Image courtesy of NASA.

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