Tag: Bulge

Why do Galaxies look like that?

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Why should a galaxy have bluish spiral arms dotted with red patches and dark lanes.  Why should it have a central region that is yellow and spherical rather than flat? Why are they flat to begin with? Because Galaxies are so huge, and made from hundreds of Billions of stars that change over the course of their lives, a galaxy shows the entire life cycle of a star in its own structure. Stars are born along spiral arms, where most of the thick dust and gas clouds are concentrated.  The dark dust lanes of spiral arms condense to form stars,...

How Big is the Andromeda Galaxy?

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If you have ever seen the Andromeda Galaxy, M31, in the sky or through a telescope, you’ll find it’s reminiscent of a small blurry, fuzzy patch, almost like a cloud. The cloudy look is similar to looking at the hazy white glow of the milky way’s concentrated disk. But that cloudy view is not all of M31.  The galaxy is so far away, around 2.5 Million light years, that you’re only seeing the concentrated light from its central bulge.  You’re actually missing a large portion of the galaxy because its just too dim for your eyes to see. If you can take a...