A 

galaxy is a gravitationally bound system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust,

and dark matter.[1][2] The word is derived from the Greek galaxias (γαλαξίας), literally
'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. 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.

NGC 4414, a typical spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, is about 55,000 light-years in diameter

and approximately 60 million light-years from Earth.

Galaxies are categorized according to their visual morphology as elliptical,[4] spiral,

or irregular.[5] Many 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.[6] As of March 2016, GN-z11 is the oldest and most distant galaxy
observed. It has a comoving distance of 32 billion light-years from Earth, and is seen as it
existed just 400 million years after the Big Bang.
In 2021, data from NASA's New Horizons space probe was used to revise the previous
estimate to roughly 200 billion galaxies (2×1011),[7] which followed a 2016 estimate that
there were two trillion (2×1012) or more[8][9] galaxies in the observable universe, overall, and
as many as an estimated 1×1024 stars[10][11] (more stars than all the grains of sand on all
beaches of the planet Earth).[12] Most of the galaxies are 1,000 to 100,000 parsecs in
diameter (approximately 3,000 to 300,000 light years) and are separated by distances on
the order of millions of parsecs (or megaparsecs). For comparison, the Milky Way has a
diameter of at least 30,000 parsecs (100,000 ly) and is separated from the Andromeda
Galaxy, its nearest large neighbor, by 780,000 parsecs (2.5 million ly.)
The space between galaxies is filled with a tenuous gas (the intergalactic medium) with an
average density of less than one atom per cubic meter. Most galaxies are gravitationally
organized into groups, clusters and superclusters. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group,
which it dominates along with Andromeda Galaxy. The group is part of the Virgo
Supercluster. At the largest scale, these associations are generally arranged into sheets and
filaments surrounded by immense voids.[13] Both the Local Group and the Virgo
Supercluster are contained in a much larger cosmic structure named Laniakea.[14]
The word galaxy was borrowed via French and Medieval Latin from the Greek term for the
Milky Way, galaxías (kúklos) γαλαξίας (κύκλος)[15][16] 'milky (circle)', named after its
appearance as a milky band of light in the sky. In Greek mythology, Zeus places his son
born by a mortal woman, the infant Heracles, on Hera's breast while she is asleep so the
baby will drink her divine milk and thus become immortal. Hera wakes up while
breastfeeding and then realizes she is nursing an unknown baby: she pushes the baby
away, some of her milk spills, and it produces the band of light known as the Milky Way.
[17][18]
In the astronomical literature, the capitalized word "Galaxy" is often used to refer to our
galaxy, the Milky Way, to distinguish it from the other galaxies in our universe. The
English term Milky Way can be traced back to a story by Chaucer c. 1380:
See yonder, lo, the Galaxyë
 Which men clepeth the Milky Wey,
 For hit is whyt.
— Geoffrey Chaucer, The House of Fame[16]
Galaxies were initially discovered telescopically and were known as spiral nebulae. Most
18th to 19th century astronomers considered them as either unresolved star clusters or
anagalactic nebulae, and were just thought of as a part of the Milky Way, but their true
composition and natures remained a mystery. Observations using larger telescopes of a
few nearby bright galaxies, like the Andromeda Galaxy, began resolving them into huge
conglomerations of stars, but based simply on the apparent faintness and sheer
population of stars, the true distances of these objects placed them well beyond the
Milky Way. For this reason they were popularly called island universes, but this term
quickly fell into disuse, as the word universe implied the entirety of existence. Instead,
they became known simply as galaxies.[19]
SDSS stands for Sloan Digital Sky Survey, J for Julian epoch, and 1152+3313 for right
ascension and declination respectively.

Tens of thousands of galaxies have been catalogued, but only a few have well-
established names, such as the Andromeda Galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds, the Whirlpool
Galaxy, and the Sombrero Galaxy. Astronomers work with numbers from certain
catalogues, such as the Messier catalogue, the NGC (New General Catalogue), the IC (Index
Catalogue), the CGCG (Catalogue of Galaxies and of Clusters of Galaxies), the MCG
(Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies), the UGC (Uppsala General Catalogue of Galaxies), and
the PGC (Catalogue of Principal Galaxies, also known as LEDA). All the well-known galaxies
appear in one or more of these catalogs but each time under a different number. For
example, Messier 109 (or "M109") is a spiral galaxy having the number 109 in the catalog
of Messier. It also has the designations NGC 3992, UGC 6937, CGCG 269-023, MCG +09-
20-044, and PGC 37617 (or LEDA 37617). Millions of fainter galaxies are known by their
identifiers in sky surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, in which M109 is cataloged
as SDSS J115735.97+532228.9.
The realization that we live in a galaxy that is one among many parallels major discoveries
about the Milky Way and other nebulae.
Milky WayEdit
Main article:  Milky Way

Greek philosopher Democritus (450–370 BCE) proposed that the bright band on the night

sky known as the Milky Way might consist of distant stars. [20]Aristotle (384–322 BCE),
however, believed the Milky Way was caused by "the ignition of the fiery exhalation of
some stars that were large, numerous and close together" and that the "ignition takes
place in the upper part of the atmosphere, in the region of the World that is continuous with
the heavenly motions."[21] Neoplatonist philosopher Olympiodorus the Younger (c. 495–570
CE) was critical of this view, arguing that if the Milky Way was sublunary (situated
between Earth and the Moon) it should appear different at different times and places on
Earth, and that it should have parallax, which it did not. In his view, the Milky Way was
celestial.[22]
According to Mohani Mohamed, Arabian astronomer Alhazen (965–1037) made the first
attempt at observing and measuring the Milky Way's parallax, [23] and he thus
"determined that because the Milky Way had no parallax, it must be remote from the
Earth, not belonging to the atmosphere."[24] Persian astronomer al-Bīrūnī (973–1048)
proposed the Milky Way galaxy was "a collection of countless fragments of the nature of
nebulous stars."[25] Andalusian astronomer Ibn Bâjjah ("Avempace", d. 1138) proposed
that it was composed of many stars that almost touched one another, and appeared to
be a continuous image due to the effect of refraction from sublunary material,[21]
[26] citing his observation of the conjunction of Jupiter and Mars as evidence of this
occurring when two objects were near.[21] In the 14th century, Syrian-born Ibn
Qayyim proposed the Milky Way galaxy was "a myriad of tiny stars packed together in
the sphere of the fixed stars."[27]

The shape of the Milky Way as estimated from star counts by William Herschel in 1785; the Solar System
was assumed to be near the center.

Actual proof of the Milky Way consisting of many stars came in 1610 when the Italian
astronomer Galileo Galilei used a telescope to study it and discovered it was composed of
a huge number of faint stars.[28][29] In 1750, English astronomer Thomas Wright, in his An
Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe, correctly speculated that it might be a
rotating body of a huge number of stars held together by gravitational forces, akin to
the Solar System but on a much larger scale, and that the resulting disk of stars could be
seen as a band on the sky from our perspective inside it. [30][31] In his 1755
treatise, Immanuel Kant elaborated on Wright's idea about the Milky Way's structure. [32]
The first project to describe the shape of the Milky Way and the position of the Sun was
undertaken by William Herschel in 1785 by counting the number of stars in different
regions of the sky. He produced a diagram of the shape of the galaxy with the Solar
System close to the center.[33][34] Using a refined approach, Kapteyn in 1920 arrived at the
picture of a small (diameter about 15 kiloparsecs) ellipsoid galaxy with the Sun close to
the center. A different method by Harlow Shapley based on the cataloguing of globular
clusters led to a radically different picture: a flat disk with diameter approximately
70 kiloparsecs and the Sun far from the center.[31] Both analyses failed to take into
account the absorption of light by interstellar dust present in the galactic plane; but
after Robert Julius Trumpler quantified this effect in 1930 by studying open clusters, the
present picture of our host galaxy emerged.[35]
Distinction from other nebulae
In 1944, Hendrik van de Hulst predicted that microwave radiation with wavelength of 21
cm would be detectable from interstellar atomic hydrogen gas;[50] and in 1951 it was
observed. This radiation is not affected by dust absorption, and so its Doppler shift can
be used to map the motion of the gas in our galaxy. These observations led to the
hypothesis of a rotating bar structure in the center of our galaxy.[51] With improved radio
telescopes, hydrogen gas could also be traced in other galaxies. In the 1970s, Vera
Rubin uncovered a discrepancy between observed galactic rotation speed and that
predicted by the visible mass of stars and gas. Today, the galaxy rotation problem is
thought to be explained by the presence of large quantities of unseen dark matter.[52][53]

Scientists used the galaxies visible in the GOODS survey to recalculate the total number of galaxies. [54]

Beginning in the 1990s, the Hubble Space Telescope yielded improved observations.

Among other things, its data helped establish that the missing dark matter in our galaxy
could not consist solely of inherently faint and small stars.[55] The Hubble Deep Field, an
extremely long exposure of a relatively empty part of the sky, provided evidence that
there are about 125 billion (1.25×1011) galaxies in the observable universe.[56] Improved
technology in detecting the spectra invisible to humans (radio telescopes, infrared
cameras, and x-ray telescopes) allows detection of other galaxies that are not detected by
Hubble. Particularly, surveys in the Zone of Avoidance (the region of sky blocked at
visible-light wavelengths by the Milky Way) have revealed a number of new galaxies. [57]
A 2016 study published in The Astrophysical Journal, led by Christopher Conselice of
the University of Nottingham, used 20 years of Hubble images to estimate that the
observable universe contained at least two trillion (2×1012) galaxies.[8][9] However, later
observations with the New Horizons space probe from outside the zodiacal light reduced
this to roughly 200 billion (2×1011).[58][59

Types of galaxies according to the Hubble classification scheme: an E indicates a type of elliptical galaxy;

an S is a spiral; and SB is a barred spiral galaxy.[note 1]

Galaxies come in three main types: ellipticals, spirals, and irregulars. A slightly more
extensive description of galaxy types based on their appearance is given by the Hubble
sequence. Since the Hubble sequence is entirely based upon visual morphological type
(shape), it may miss certain important characteristics of galaxies such as star
formation rate in starburst galaxies and activity in the cores of active galaxies.[5]
EllipticalsEdit
Main article:  Elliptical galaxy

The Hubble classification system rates elliptical galaxies on the basis of their ellipticity,
ranging from E0, being nearly spherical, up to E7, which is highly elongated. These
galaxies have an ellipsoidal profile, giving them an elliptical appearance regardless of the
viewing angle. Their appearance shows little structure and they typically have relatively
little interstellar matter. Consequently, these galaxies also have a low portion of open
clusters and a reduced rate of new star formation. Instead, they are dominated by
generally older, more evolved stars that are orbiting the common center of gravity in
random directions. The stars contain low abundances of heavy elements because star
formation ceases after the initial burst. In this sense they have some similarity to the
much smaller globular clusters.[60]
The largest galaxies are giant ellipticals. Many elliptical galaxies are believed to form due
to the interaction of galaxies, resulting in a collision and merger. They can grow to
enormous sizes (compared to spiral galaxies, for example), and giant elliptical galaxies
are often found near the core of large galaxy clusters. [61]
Shell galaxyEdit
A shell galaxy is a type of elliptical galaxy where the stars in its halo are arranged in
concentric shells. About one-tenth of elliptical galaxies have a shell-like structure, which
has never been observed in spiral galaxies. These structures are thought to develop
when a larger galaxy absorbs a smaller companion galaxy—that as the two galaxy
centers approach, they start to oscillate around a center point, and the oscillation
creates gravitational ripples forming the shells of stars, similar to ripples spreading on
water. For example, galaxy NGC 3923 has over 20 shells.[62]
SpiralsEdit
Main articles:  Spiral galaxy  and  Barred spiral galaxy

The Pinwheel Galaxy, NGC 5457

Spiral galaxies resemble spiraling pinwheels. Though the stars and other visible material
contained in such a galaxy lie mostly on a plane, the majority of mass in spiral galaxies
exists in a roughly spherical halo of dark matter which extends beyond the visible
component, as demonstrated by the universal rotation curve concept. [63]
Spiral galaxies consist of a rotating disk of stars and interstellar medium, along with a
central bulge of generally older stars. Extending outward from the bulge are relatively
bright arms. In the Hubble classification scheme, spiral galaxies are listed as type S,
followed by a letter (a, b, or c) which indicates the degree of tightness of the spiral arms
and the size of the central bulge. An Sa galaxy has tightly wound, poorly defined arms
and possesses a relatively large core region. At the other extreme, an Sc galaxy has
open, well-defined arms and a small core region.[64] A galaxy with poorly defined arms is
sometimes referred to as a flocculent spiral galaxy; in contrast to the grand design spiral
galaxy that has prominent and well-defined spiral arms.[65] The speed in which a galaxy
rotates is thought to correlate with the flatness of the disc as some spiral galaxies have
thick bulges, while others are thin and dense.[66]
NGC 1300, an example of a barred spiral galaxy

In spiral galaxies, the spiral arms do have the shape of approximate logarithmic spirals, a
pattern that can be theoretically shown to result from a disturbance in a uniformly
rotating mass of stars. Like the stars, the spiral arms rotate around the center, but they
do so with constant angular velocity. The spiral arms are thought to be areas of high-
density matter, or "density waves".[67] As stars move through an arm, the space velocity
of each stellar system is modified by the gravitational force of the higher density. (The
velocity returns to normal after the stars depart on the other side of the arm.) This effect
is akin to a "wave" of slowdowns moving along a highway full of moving cars. The arms
are visible because the high density facilitates star formation, and therefore they harbor
many bright and young stars.[68]

Hoag's Object, an example of a ring galaxy

Barred spiral galaxyEdit

A majority of spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way galaxy, have a linear, bar-
shaped band of stars that extends 
outward to either side of the core, then merges into the spiral arm structure. [69] In the
Hubble classification scheme, these are designated by an SB, followed by a lower-case
letter (a, b or c) which indicates the form of the spiral arms (in the same manner as the
categorization of normal spiral galaxies). Bars are thought to be temporary structures
that can occur as a result of a density wave radiating outward from the core, or else due
to a tidal interaction with another galaxy.[70] Many barred spiral galaxies are active,
possibly as a result of gas being channeled into the core along the arms. [71]
Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is a large disk-shaped barred-spiral galaxy[72] about
30 kiloparsecs in diameter and a kiloparsec thick. It contains about two hundred billion
(2×1011)[73] stars and has a total mass of about six hundred billion (6×10 11) times the
mass of the Sun.[74]
Super-luminous spiralEdit
Recently, researchers described galaxies called super-luminous spirals. They are very
large with an upward diameter of 437,000 light-years (compared to the Milky Way's
100,000 light-year diameter). With a mass of 340 billion solar masses, they generate a
significant amount of ultraviolet and mid-infrared light. They are thought to have an
increased star formation rate around 30 times faster than the Milky Way. [75][76]
Other morphologiesEdit
 Peculiar galaxies are galactic formations that develop unusual properties due to tidal interactions
with other galaxies.
o A ring galaxy has a ring-like structure of stars and interstellar medium surrounding a
bare core. A ring galaxy is thought to occur when a smaller galaxy passes through the
core of a spiral galaxy.[77] Such an event may have affected the Andromeda Galaxy, as
it displays a multi-ring-like structure when viewed in infrared radiation.[78]
 A lenticular galaxy is an intermediate form that has properties of both elliptical and spiral
galaxies. These are categorized as Hubble type S0, and they possess ill-defined spiral arms with
an elliptical halo of stars[79] (barred lenticular galaxies receive Hubble classification SB0.)
 Irregular galaxies are galaxies that can not be readily classified into an elliptical or spiral
morphology.
o An Irr-I galaxy has some structure but does not align cleanly with the Hubble
classification scheme.
o Irr-II galaxies do not possess any structure that resembles a Hubble classification, and
may have been disrupted.[80] Nearby examples of (dwarf) irregular galaxies include
the Magellanic Clouds.
 An ultra diffuse galaxy (UDG) is an extremely-low-density galaxy. It may be the same size as the
Milky Way, but have a visible star count only one percent of the Milky Way's. Its lack of
luminosity is due to a lack of star-forming gas, resulting in old stellar populations.

DwarfsEdit
Main article:  Dwarf galaxy

Despite the prominence of large elliptical and spiral galaxies, most galaxies are dwarf
galaxies. They are relatively small when compared with other galactic formations, being
about one hundredth the size of the Milky Way, with only a few billion stars. Ultra-
compact dwarf galaxies have recently been discovered that are only 100 parsecs across.
[81]
InteractingEdit
Main article:  Interacting galaxy
The Antennae Galaxies are undergoing a collision that will result in their eventual merger.

Interactions between galaxies are relatively frequent, and they can play an important
role in galactic evolution. Near misses between galaxies result in warping distortions due
to tidal interactions, and may cause some exchange of gas and dust.[84][85] Collisions
occur when two galaxies pass directly through each other and have sufficient relative
momentum not to merge. The stars of interacting galaxies usually do not collide, but the
gas and dust within the two forms interacts, sometimes triggering star formation. A
collision can severely distort the galaxies' shapes, forming bars, rings or tail-like
structures.[84][85]
At the extreme of interactions are galactic mergers, where the galaxies' relative
momentums are insufficient to allow them to pass through each other. Instead, they
gradually merge to form a single, larger galaxy. Mergers can result in significant changes
to the galaxies' original morphology. If one of the galaxies is much more massive than
the other, the result is known as cannibalism, where the more massive larger galaxy
remains relatively undisturbed, and the smaller one is torn apart. The Milky Way galaxy
is currently in the process of cannibalizing the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy and
the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy.[84][85]
StarburstEdit
Main article:  Starburst galaxy

M82, a starburst galaxy that has ten times the star formation of a "normal" galaxy [86]
Stars are created within galaxies from a reserve of cold gas that forms giant molecular
clouds. Some galaxies have been observed to form stars at an exceptional rate, which is
known as a starburst. If they continue to do so, they would consume their reserve of gas
in a time span less than the galaxy's lifespan. Hence starburst activity usually lasts only
about ten million years, a relatively brief period in a galaxy's history. Starburst galaxies
were more common during the universe's early history, [87] but still contribute an
estimated 15% to total star production.[88]
Starburst galaxies are characterized by dusty concentrations of gas and the appearance
of newly formed stars, including massive stars that ionize the surrounding clouds to
create H II regions.[89] These stars produce supernova explosions, creating
expanding remnants that interact powerfully with the surrounding gas. These outbursts
trigger a chain reaction of star-building that spreads throughout the gaseous region.
Only when the available gas is nearly consumed or dispersed does the activity end. [87]
Starbursts are often associated with merging or interacting galaxies. The prototype
example of such a starburst-forming interaction is M82, which experienced a close
encounter with the larger M81. Irregular galaxies often exhibit spaced knots of starburst
activity.[90]
Active galaxyEdit
Main article:  Active galactic nucleus

Some observable galaxies are classified as "active" if they contain an active galactic
nucleus (AGN). A significant portion of the galaxy's total energy output is emitted by the
active nucleus instead of its stars, dust and interstellar medium. There are multiple
classification and naming schemes for AGNs, but those in the lower ranges of luminosity
are called Seyfert galaxies, while those with luminosities much greater than that of the
host galaxy are known as quasi-stellar objects or quasars. AGNs emit radiation
throughout the electromagnetic spectrum from radio wavelengths to X-rays, though some
of it may be absorbed by dust or gas associated with the AGN itself or with the host
galaxy.
The standard model for an active galactic nucleus is based on an accretion disc that forms
around a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the galaxy's core region. The radiation from
an active galactic nucleus results from the gravitational energy of matter as it falls toward
the black hole from the disc.[91] The AGN's luminosity depends on the SMBH's mass and
the rate at which matter falls onto it. In about 10% of these galaxies, a diametrically
opposed pair of energetic jets ejects particles from the galaxy core at velocities close to
the speed of light. The mechanism for producing these jets is not well understood. [92]
BlazarsEdit
Main article:  Blazar

Blazars are believed to be active galaxies with a relativistic jet pointed in the direction of

Earth. A radio galaxy emits radio frequencies from relativistic jets. A unified model of
these types of active galaxies explains their differences based on the observer's position.
[92]
LINERSEdit
Main article:  Low-ionization nuclear emission-line region

Possibly related to active galactic nuclei (as well as starburst regions) are low-ionization

nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs). The emission from LINER-type galaxies is
dominated by weakly ionized elements. The excitation sources for the weakly ionized
lines include post-AGB stars, AGN, and shocks.[93] Approximately one-third of nearby
galaxies are classified as containing LINER nuclei.[91][93][94]
Seyfert galaxyEdit

Seyfert galaxies are one of the two largest groups of active galaxies, along with quasars.
They have quasar-like nuclei (very luminous, distant and bright sources of
electromagnetic radiation) with very high surface brightnesses; but unlike quasars, their
host galaxies are clearly detectable. Seyfert galaxies account for about 10% of all
galaxies. Seen in visible light, most look like normal spiral galaxies; but when studied
under other wavelengths, their cores' luminosity is equivalent to the luminosity of whole
galaxies the size of the Milky Way.

QuasarEdit
Main article:  Quasar

Quasars (/ˈkweɪzɑr/) or quasi-stellar radio sources, are the most energetic and distant
members of active galactic nuclei. Extremely luminous, they were first identified as high
redshift sources of electromagnetic energy, including radio waves and visible light, that
appeared more similar to stars than to extended sources similar to galaxies. Their
luminosity can be 100 times that of the Milky Way.

Luminous infrared galaxyEdit

Main article:  Luminous infrared galaxy

Luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) are galaxies with luminosities—the measurement of

electromagnetic power output—above 1011 L☉ (solar luminosities). In most cases, most
of their energy comes from large numbers of young stars which heat surrounding dust,
which reradiates the energy in the infrared. Luminosity high enough to be a LIRG
requires a star formation rate of at least 18 M☉ yr−1. Ultra-luminous infrared galaxies
(ULIRGs) are at least ten times more luminous still and form stars at rates >180 M☉ yr−1.
Many LIRGs also emit radiation from an AGN. Infrared galaxies emit more energy in the
infrared than all other wavelengths combined, with peak emission typically at
wavelengths of 60 to 100 microns. LIRGs are uncommon in the local universe but were
much more common when the universe was younger.
PropertiesEdit
Magnetic fieldsEdit
Galaxies have magnetic fields of their own.[95] They are strong enough to be dynamically
important, as they:
 Drive mass inflow into the centers of galaxies
 Modify the formation of spiral arms
 Can affect the rotation of gas in the galaxies' outer regions
 Provide the transport of angular momentum required for the collapse of gas clouds, and hence the
formation of new stars

The typical average equipartition strength for spiral galaxies is about 10 μG (microGauss) or

1 nT (nanoTesla). By comparison, the Earth's magnetic field has an average strength of about 0.3
G (Gauss or 30 μT (microTesla). Radio-faint galaxies like M 31 and M33, our Milky Way's
neighbors, have weaker fields (about 5 μG), while gas-rich galaxies with high star-formation
rates, like M 51, M 83 and NGC 6946, have 15 μG on average. In prominent spiral arms, the
field strength can be up to 25 μG, in regions where cold gas and dust are also concentrated. The
strongest total equipartition fields (50–100 μG) were found in starburst galaxies—for example,
in M 82 and the Antennae; and in nuclear starburst regions, such as the centers of NGC 1097 and
other barred galaxies.[95]
FormationEdit

Artist's impression of a protocluster forming in the early universe [96]

Current cosmological models of the early universe are based on the Big Bang theory.
About 300,000 years after this event, atoms of hydrogen and helium began to form, in an
event called recombination. Nearly all the hydrogen was neutral (non-ionized) and readily
absorbed light, and no stars had yet formed. As a result, this period has been called the
"dark ages". It was from density fluctuations (or anisotropic irregularities) in this primordial
matter that larger structures began to appear. As a result, masses of baryonic matter
started to condense within cold dark matter halos.[97][98] These primordial structures
eventually became the galaxies we see today.
Artist's impression of a young galaxy accreting material
Early galaxy formationEdit
Evidence for the appearance of galaxies very early in the Universe's history was found in
2006, when it was discovered that the galaxy IOK-1 has an unusually high redshift of
6.96, corresponding to just 750 million years after the Big Bang and making it the most
distant and earliest-to-form galaxy seen at that time.[99] While some scientists have
claimed other objects (such as Abell 1835 IR1916) have higher redshifts (and therefore
are seen in an earlier stage of the universe's evolution), IOK-1's age and composition
have been more reliably established. In December 2012, astronomers reported
that UDFj-39546284 is the most distant object known and has a redshift value of 11.9.
The object, estimated to have existed around 380 million years [100] after the Big
Bang (which was about 13.8 billion years ago),[101] is about 13.42 billion light travel
distance years away. The existence of galaxies so soon after the Big Bang suggests
that protogalaxies must have grown in the so-called "dark ages".[97] As of May 5, 2015,
the galaxy EGS-zs8-1 is the most distant and earliest galaxy measured, forming 670
million years after the Big Bang. The light from EGS-zs8-1 has taken 13 billion years to
reach Earth, and is now 30 billion light-years away, because of the expansion of the
universe during 13 billion years.[102][103][104][105][106]

Different components of near-infrared background light detected by the Hubble Space Telescope in deep-
sky surveys[107]

The detailed process by which the earliest galaxies formed is an open question in
astrophysics. Theories can be divided into two categories: top-down and bottom-up. In
top-down correlations (such as the Eggen–Lynden-Bell–Sandage [ELS] model),
protogalaxies form in a large-scale simultaneous collapse lasting about one hundred
million years.[108] In bottom-up theories (such as the Searle-Zinn [SZ] model), small
structures such as globular clusters form first, and then a number of such bodies accrete
to form a larger galaxy.[109] Once protogalaxies began to form and contract, the first halo
stars (called Population III stars) appeared within them. These were composed almost
entirely of hydrogen and helium and may have been more massive than 100 times the
Sun's mass. If so, these huge stars would have quickly consumed their supply of fuel and
became supernovae, releasing heavy elements into the interstellar medium.[110] This first
generation of stars re-ionized the
During the following two billion years, the accumulated matter settles into a galactic disc.
[116] A galaxy will continue to absorb infalling material from high-velocity
clouds and dwarf galaxies throughout its life.[117] This matter is mostly hydrogen and
helium. The cycle of stellar birth and death slowly increases the abundance of heavy
elements, eventually allowing the formation of planets.[118]
Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF)

XDF view field compared to the angular size of the Moon. Several thousand galaxies, each consisting of
billions of stars, are in this small view.

XDF (2012) view: Each light speck is a galaxy, some of which are as old as 13.2 billion years [119] –
the observable universe is estimated to contain 200 billion to two trillion galaxies.
XDF image shows (from left) fully mature galaxies, nearly mature galaxies (from five to nine billion years
ago), and protogalaxies, blazing with young stars (beyond nine billion years).

The evolution of galaxies can be significantly affected by interactions and collisions.

Mergers of galaxies were common during the early epoch, and the majority of galaxies
were peculiar in morphology.[120] Given the distances between the stars, the great
majority of stellar systems in colliding galaxies will be unaffected. However, gravitational
stripping of the interstellar gas and dust that makes up the spiral arms produces a long
train of stars known as tidal tails. Examples of these formations can be seen in NGC
4676[121] or the Antennae Galaxies.[122]
The Milky Way galaxy and the nearby Andromeda Galaxy are moving toward each other
at about 130 km/s, and—depending upon the lateral movements—the two might collide
in about five to six billion years. Although the Milky Way has never collided with a
galaxy as large as Andromeda before, evidence of past collisions of the Milky Way with
smaller dwarf galaxies is increasing.[123]
Such large-scale interactions are rare. As time passes, mergers of two systems of equal
size become less common. Most bright galaxies have remained fundamentally
unchanged for the last few billion years, and the net rate of star formation probably also
peaked about ten billion years ago.[124]
Future trendsEdit
Multi-wavelength observationEdit
See also:  Observational astronomy

This ultraviolet image of Andromeda shows blue regions containing young, massive stars.

The peak radiation of most stars lies in the visible spectrum, so the observation of the stars that
form galaxies has been a major component of optical astronomy. It is also a favorable portion of
the spectrum for observing ionized H II regions, and for examining the distribution of dusty
arms.
The dust present in the interstellar medium is opaque to visual light. It is more transparent to far-
infrared, which can be used to observe the interior regions of giant molecular clouds and galactic
cores in great detail.[147] Infrared is also used to observe distant, red-shifted galaxies that were
formed much earlier. Water vapor and carbon dioxide absorb a number of useful portions of the
infrared spectrum, so high-altitude or space-based telescopes are used for infrared astronomy.
The first non-visual study of galaxies, particularly active galaxies, was made using radio
frequencies. The Earth's atmosphere is nearly transparent to radio between 5 MHz and 30 GHz.
(The ionosphere blocks signals below this range.)[148] Large radio interferometers have been
used to map the active jets emitted from active nuclei. Radio telescopes can also be used to
observe neutral hydrogen (via 21 cm radiation), including, potentially, the non-ionized matter in
the early universe that later collapsed to form galaxies.[149]
Ultraviolet and X-ray telescopes can observe highly energetic galactic phenomena. Ultraviolet
flares are sometimes observed when a star in a distant galaxy is torn apart from the tidal forces of
a nearby black hole.[150] The distribution of hot gas in galactic clusters can be mapped by X-rays.
The existence of supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies was confirmed through X-ray
astronomy.[151]
GalleryEdit


Squabbling Galactic Siblings[152]
 


LEFT: ARP-MADORE2115-273 is a rare example of an interacting galaxy pair in the
southern hemisphere. RIGHT: ARP-MADORE0002-503 is a large spiral galaxy with
unusual, extended spiral arms, at a distance of 490 million light-years. [153]
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