List of galaxies facts for kids

Size (left) and distance (right) of a few well-known galaxies put to scale

Galaxies are huge groups of stars, dust, and gas all held together by gravity. Our own home, the Solar System, is part of a galaxy called the Milky Way.

Scientists believe there are about 51 galaxies in our local neighborhood, called the Local Group. In a bigger area called the Local Supercluster, there are around 100,000 galaxies. And in the entire observable universe, there might be as many as 100 billion galaxies!

For a long time, people didn't know that galaxies were separate from other cloudy objects in space, called nebulae. But in the 1920s, scientists figured out that galaxies are indeed their own huge star systems.

To keep track of all these galaxies, astronomers create big lists. In the 1960s, some of the first major lists were made, like the Catalogue of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies, which had almost 30,000 entries. Today, projects like Galaxy Zoo let people help classify over a million galaxy images!

Galaxies don't have simple names like "Galaxy One." Instead, they are usually named after the sky survey or project that found them. For example, you might see names like HUDF, SDSS, or NGC.

Famous Galaxies and Their Names

Many galaxies are known by special names, not just catalog numbers. These names often come from how they look or who discovered them.

Image	Galaxy	Constellation	Why it's named that	Cool facts
	Andromeda Galaxy	Andromeda	Named after the constellation it's in.	This is the closest big galaxy to our Milky Way. It's expected to crash into the Milky Way in about 4.5 billion years! They will merge into a new galaxy called Milkdromeda.
	Antennae Galaxies	Corvus	They look like an insect's antennae.	These are two galaxies that are currently crashing into each other.
	Backward Galaxy	Centaurus	It seems to spin backwards, with its spiral arms pointing in the direction of rotation.
	Bear Paw Galaxy	Lynx	It looks like a bear's claw.	Also called "Bear Claw Galaxy."
	Black Eye Galaxy	Coma Berenices	It has a dark band of dust that looks like a "black eye" in front of its bright center.	Also known as "Sleeping Beauty Galaxy."
	Bode's Galaxy	Ursa Major	Named after Johann Elert Bode, who found it in 1774.	This is the largest galaxy in the M81 Group. It has a supermassive black hole that's 70 million times bigger than our Sun!
	Cartwheel Galaxy	Sculptor	It looks like a spoked cartwheel.	This is the biggest galaxy in its group, which has four spiral galaxies.
	Cigar Galaxy	Ursa Major	It looks like a cigar.	Also known as Messier 82 or M82.
	Circinus Galaxy	Circinus	Named after the Circinus constellation where it is found.
	Comet Galaxy	Sculptor	It looks like a comet with a long tail.	Its comet-like shape is caused by a nearby galaxy cluster pulling on it.
	Condor Galaxy	Pavo	Named after a condor, a very large bird.	This is the largest known spiral galaxy, stretching over 665,300 light-years wide. A smaller galaxy is pulling on its shape.
	Cosmos Redshift 7	Sextans	Its name comes from a measurement called Redshift (z) which is almost 7.	This galaxy is one of the brightest and most distant galaxies ever found. It might contain some of the very first stars that created the chemical elements needed for planets and life.
	Fireworks Galaxy	Cygnus and Cepheus	It looks bright and spotty, like fireworks.	This is a very active galaxy where many new stars are forming.
	Hoag's Object	Serpens Caput	Named after Art Hoag, who discovered this ring galaxy.	This galaxy is a special type of ring galaxy.
	Large Magellanic Cloud	Dorado/Mensa	Named after Ferdinand Magellan, a famous explorer.	This is the fourth-largest galaxy in the Local Group. It's a close neighbor to our Milky Way.
	Malin 1	Coma Berenices	Discovered and named by David Malin.	This is a very spread-out galaxy, making it hard to see.
	Mice Galaxies	Coma Berenices	They look like two mice with long tails.	These are two galaxies that are crashing into each other.
	Small Magellanic Cloud	Tucana	Named after Ferdinand Magellan.	This is another close neighbor to our Milky Way, forming a pair with the Large Magellanic Cloud.
	Mayall's Object	Ursa Major	Named after Nicholas Mayall, who discovered it.	This strange object is likely two galaxies crashing into each other.
	Milky Way	Sagittarius (center)	It looks like a band of milky light across the night sky from Earth.	This is our home galaxy! It contains our Sun and Solar System, including Earth.
	Needle Galaxy	Coma Berenices	It looks long and thin, like a needle.	Also known as Caldwell 38.
	Peekaboo Galaxy	Hydra	It was hidden behind a bright star and only became visible when the star moved away.	This galaxy is very old and has very few heavy elements, making it special.
	Pinwheel Galaxy	Ursa Major	It looks like a pinwheel (toy).	Also known as Messier 101 or M101.
	Sculptor Galaxy	Sculptor	Named after its location in the Sculptor constellation. It's also called the Silver Dollar or Silver Coin Galaxy because it looks light and round.	Also known as the Silver Coin, Silver Dollar Galaxy or Caldwell 65.
	Sombrero Galaxy	Virgo	It looks like a sombrero hat.	Also known as Messier Object 104 or M104.
	Southern Pinwheel Galaxy	Hydra	It looks like the Pinwheel Galaxy but is in the southern part of the sky.
	Sunflower Galaxy	Canes Venatici	It looks like a sunflower.
	Tadpole Galaxy	Draco	It looks like a tadpole with a long tail.	Its tail was formed when another galaxy pulled on it during a close encounter.
	Triangulum Galaxy	Triangulum	Named after its location in the Triangulum constellation.
	Whirlpool Galaxy	Canes Venatici	It looks like a whirlpool because of how its arms are twisted.

Important Discoveries About Galaxies

Scientists have made many exciting discoveries about galaxies over time. Here are some of the firsts:

Closest and Farthest Galaxies

Scientists are always looking for the closest and most distant galaxies to learn more about the universe.

Closest Galaxies

Most Distant Galaxies

Scientists use something called "redshift" to measure how far away very distant objects are. The higher the redshift number (z), the farther away the object is.

Galaxies by Brightness and Power

Galaxies come in all sorts of brightness levels, from super bright to very faint.

Galaxies by Mass and Density

Galaxies also vary greatly in how much stuff they contain (mass) and how tightly packed that stuff is (density).

Galaxies Living Alone

A field galaxy is a galaxy that doesn't belong to a larger group or cluster of galaxies. It's like a lone wolf in the universe, held together by its own gravity.

Galaxies Interacting and Merging

Galaxies don't always stay separate. They can pull on each other with gravity, leading to amazing interactions and even mergers!

Galaxies Pulling on Each Other

These galaxies are close enough that their gravity affects each other, but they haven't fully crashed yet.

Galaxies Crashing and Merging

Sometimes, galaxies collide and eventually merge into one bigger galaxy.

Recently Merged Galaxies

These galaxies have recently finished merging, but you can still see signs of their past collision.

Galaxies Being Eaten

Sometimes, a larger galaxy can "eat" a smaller one, pulling it apart with its strong gravity.

Galaxies with Other Special Features

Some galaxies have unique features that make them stand out.

Images for kids

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  Butterfly Galaxies

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  Coma Pinwheel Galaxy

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  Eye of God

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  Eye of Sauron

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  Grasshopper

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  Hockey Stick Galaxies

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  Lindsay-Shapley Ring

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  Little Sombrero Galaxy

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  Medusa Merger

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  Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy

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  Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte

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  Paramecium Galaxy

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  Spider Galaxy

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  Triangulum Galaxy

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  Galaxies (left/top, right/bottom): NGC 7541, NGC 3021, NGC 5643, NGC 3254, NGC 3147, NGC 105, NGC 2608, NGC 3583, NGC 3147, MRK 1337, NGC 5861, NGC 2525, NGC 1015, UGC 9391, NGC 691, NGC 7678, NGC 2442, NGC 5468, NGC 5917, NGC 4639, NGC 3972, The Antennae Galaxies, NGC 5584, M106, NGC 7250, NGC 3370, NGC 5728, NGC 4424, NGC 1559, NGC 3982, NGC 1448, NGC 4680, M101, NGC 1365, NGC 7329, NGC 3447

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Galaxias para niños

Lists of galaxies