Types of Galaxies
There are Spiral, Elliptical, and Irregular galaxies. In Spiral galaxies, the spiral arms seen in this kind of galaxy are circling waves. These waves cause new stars to form. Elliptical galaxies have old stars, because they aren't actively creating new stars. Irregular galaxies include all the other galaxies. They can look like anything. Many used to be Spiral or Elliptical and have changed, or they just never evolved into anything.
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The Milky Way
The Milky Way is the Spiral galaxy that our solar system resides in. Our galaxy was named this because of the way the haze it casts in the night sky resembles spilled milk. It has over 200 billion stars, and is made up of a lot of gas and dust. The center is a massive black hole, so you can't see it.
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