Astronomy & Astrophysics 101: Elliptical Galaxy

Elliptical galaxies have an even, ellipsoidal shape. They typically contain a much greater proportion of older stars than spiral galaxies do.

Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, ESA, R.M. Crockett (University of Oxford, U.K.), S. Kaviraj (Imperial College London and University of Oxford, U.K.), J. Silk (University of Oxford), M. Mutchler (Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, USA), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA), and the WFC3 Scientific Oversight Committee