I need help with my science homework its for ASTRONOMY?

J

Jessica

New member
Which of the following is a major difference between elliptical galaxies and spiral galaxies?

Elliptical galaxies have almost no gas or dust between the stars.

Elliptical galaxies vary more in shape than spiral galaxies.

Spiral galaxies have almost no gas or dust between the stars.

Spiral galaxies contain only old stars.

If you can help thank you so much
 
If you read about elliptical and spiral galaxies, you will learn not only the answer to this question, but a lot of other things.

Ellipticals are thought to form by the merger of spirals - the mergers cause a lot of stars to form from the remaining dust and gas in the merging galaxies. The merger causes all the stars to orbit a common centre in all directions, resulting in a formless spherical blob (they almost all appear the same, other than size).
When an elliptical has fully formed, there isn't much left except stars.

Spirals can have all kinds of shapes, some have bars and some don't (our galaxy is a barred spiral).
 
The first one is absolutely true. Most elliptical galaxies consist of very old stars.

The second one could be true in certain circumstances. Spiral Galaxies can have many different shapes and sizes and do elliptical. I'm not quite sure it is correct to say that elliptical vary more.

The third and fourth are absolutely false.
 
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