SPIRAL GALAXY

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does spiral galaxy mean? 

• SPIRAL GALAXY (noun)
  The noun SPIRAL GALAXY has 1 sense:

1. a galaxy having a spiral structure; arms containing younger stars spiral out from old stars at the center

  Familiarity information: SPIRAL GALAXY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPIRAL GALAXY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A galaxy having a spiral structure; arms containing younger stars spiral out from old stars at the center

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

spiral galaxy; spiral nebula

Hypernyms ("spiral galaxy" is a kind of...):

extragalactic nebula; galaxy ((astronomy) a collection of star systems; any of the billions of systems each having many stars and nebulae and dust)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spiral galaxy"):

Andromeda galaxy (a spiral galaxy in the constellation of Andromeda that is visible to the naked eye)

 Context examples 

The object, named D99, began as a spiral galaxy similar in mass to D100.

(Hubble Sees Plunging Galaxy Losing Its Gas, NASA)

The star, harbored in a very distant spiral galaxy, is so far away that its light has taken 9 billion years to reach Earth.

(Hubble Uncovers the Farthest Star Ever Seen, NASA)

This colourful stripe of stars, gas, and dust is actually a spiral galaxy named NGC 1055.

(A Galaxy on the Edge, ESO)

Until recently, scientists thought J0045+41 was an object within M31, a large spiral galaxy located relatively nearby at a distance of about 2.5 million light-years from Earth.

(Giant Black Hole Pair Photobombs Andromeda Galaxy, NASA)

The spiral galaxy, identified as NGC 4631 or the "Whale Galaxy," is seen edge-on in the image, with its disk of stars shown in pink.

(Giant magnetic ropes seen in Whale Galaxy's halo, National Science Foundation)

This majestic spiral galaxy might earn the nickname the "Godzilla galaxy" because it may be the largest known in the local universe.

(Hubble Surveys Gigantic Galaxy, NASA)

The ghostly galaxy doesn't have a noticeable central region, or even spiral arms and a disk, typical features of a spiral galaxy.

(Dark Matter Goes Missing in Oddball Galaxy, NASA)

As if black holes weren't mysterious enough, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found an unexpected thin disk of material furiously whirling around a supermassive black hole at the heart of the magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 3147, located 130 million light-years away.

(Hubble Uncovers Black Hole Disk that Shouldn't Exist, NASA)

The second is the spiral galaxy NGC 1448, with a large population of young (just 5 million year old) stars, suggesting that the galaxy produces new stars at the same time that its black hole feeds on gas and dust.

(Black Holes Hide in Our Cosmic Backyard, NASA)

The team had been using Hubble to monitor a supernova in the far-distant spiral galaxy when, in 2016, they spotted a new point of light not far from the magnified supernova.

(Hubble Uncovers the Farthest Star Ever Seen, NASA)