elliptical galaxy

noun

, Astronomy.

1. a type of galaxy having the shape of a spheroid or ellipsoid, rather than a disk.

elliptical galaxy

/ ĭ-lĭp′tĭ-kəl /

1. The most common type of galaxy, ranging in shape from nearly spherical (classified as E0) to greatly elongated (classified as E7). Elliptical galaxies vary greatly in size and include some of the largest and smallest known galaxies. They do not have spiral arms and have considerably less interstellar gas and dust than spiral galaxies, with little or no star formation taking place within them. Their stars follow individual elliptical orbits around the center of the galaxy. Long thought to be older galaxies which had used up all the material for star formation, it has also been suggested that elliptical galaxies actually form from collisions between spiral galaxies.
2. Compare irregular galaxySee more at Hubble classification system

Example Sentences

Published by a team of American scientists in The Astrophysical Journal, the study analyzes "one of the most massive black hole systems known," a binary located within the elliptical galaxy B2 0402+379.

From Salon

National Science Foundation, to analyze a supermassive black hole binary located within the elliptical galaxy B2 0402+379.

From Science Daily

The mass of the black hole is also correlated to the stellar mass of a spiral galaxy's central bulge, or the overall mass of an elliptical galaxy.

From Scientific American

The researchers studied an exotic object called a blazar at the center of a large elliptical galaxy named Markarian 501 located about 460 million light years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Hercules.

From Reuters

But because both reside near a massive elliptical galaxy, called NGC 1052, the explanation may be simple: their dark matter could have been “tidally stripped” away by the gravity of this humongous companion, leaving behind only the normal matter.

From Scientific American