Size is never an issue for the 10 biggest galaxies in the universe. As humans, we can say that we’ve discovered a lot about our planet and the space beyond it. Despite what we know, we are yet to discover the multitudes of things that can be found in the universe. Our galaxy is considered as less than a speck of dust when considering the size of the universe. What’s even more amazing is that the size of the universe is continuously expanding. These big galaxies included in this list are limited to what we know and have discovered. There might be future discoveries that can easily trump the ones included in this list.
The reason we are discovering so much about space in recent years is because of our advancements in technology. The best minds and best technology can allow us to see things we have not yet seen before. These technologies are more evident in The 10 Most Technologically Advanced Countries in the World. If there is one thing that the universe can prove is that nothing is ever constant. We may believe in these fixed truths about our planet, solar system and galaxy, but these truths may turn to be misconceptions.
We’ve yet to discover a lot of things about our solar system and even our own galaxy. The galaxies beyond our own are just sights to see and we may never reach one in our lifetime, considering how many things we have to discover in our own galaxy. Let’s start sizing up the galaxies as we start this list.
10. Cigar Galaxy
Messier 82 or most popularly termed as the Cigar galaxy is a galaxy shaped like a cigar as you might’ve guessed. It is one of the most luminous galaxies we’ve discovered and it is five times more luminous than our own galaxy. This is the closest starburst galaxy to our own and scientists have discovered the brightest pulsar in this galaxy.
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9. Sombrero Galaxy
This spiral galaxy emulates the shape of a sombrero. It is 30% the size of the Milky Way. It looks small due to the way the galaxy is positioned relative to our own. What you can mostly see of it is a large bulge of light surrounded by a halo of dust. Scientists are now being led to believe that it is a large elliptical galaxy.
8. Whirlpool Galaxy
The Whirlpool Galaxy is the first galaxy to be ever classified as spiral. It is estimated to be 15-35 million light years away from our own galaxy and is one of the most popular sights seen from our sky. It can easily be found by amateur astronomers.
7. Cartwheel Galaxy
Discovered in 1941, the Cartwheel Galaxy is a ring galaxy that’s shaped to look like a rotating cartwheel. It was originally a spiral galaxy before a collision with a smaller companion galaxy made it what it is today.
6. Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy where we can find our own solar system. It is termed the Milky Way due to the dim light it emanates which makes it hard for us to see the individual stars included in our galaxy. From our viewpoint it looks like a band because we are looking from within the galaxy. The very center of the galaxy is speculated to be a supermassive black hole.
The largest galaxies in our known universe are listed in the second half of the 10 biggest galaxies in the universe.
5. Pinwheel Galaxy
The Pinwheel galaxy is another spiral galaxy and is considered to be one of the final entries to the Messier catalogue. The most popular image of the galaxy was taken in 2006 by the Hubble Telescope. The Pinwheel galaxy is very famous for observation and there was a Type la Supernova that was observed here in 2011.
4. Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy or the Great Andromeda Nebula is the closest big galaxy to the Milky Way. It is the largest of our local galaxy group and contains 1 trillion stars, twice that of our own galaxy. In about 3.75 billion years Andromeda and the Milky Way galaxy are expected to collide.
3. Phoenix Cluster
The Phoenix Cluster is one of the largest galaxy clusters we have ever discovered. Observations of the galaxy show a continuous massive starburst that has not been seen in other galaxy observations.
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2. NGC 262
NGC 262 is a huge lenticular galaxy. It is estimated to have more than 15 trillion stars and can be found in the sky if you trace from the Andromeda constellation.
1. IC 1101
The IC 1101 is considered as a supergiant elliptical galaxy and can be found more than 1.04 billion light years away from earth. It is the brightest galaxy in its galaxy group. It is the largest galaxy we’ve discovered so far.
That has been the list of the 10 biggest galaxies in the universe. We may find other galaxies larger than these in the near future.
