Galaxies and Their Sizes
Part of Scales of the Universe.
AMNH/D. Finnin
We live in the Milky Way Galaxy, a disk-shaped galaxy roughly a hundred thousand light-years across and two thousand light-years thick. The smallest dwarf galaxies are a few percent of that size. The largest galaxies, found at the centers of galaxy clusters, are more than ten times larger than the Milky Way.
In This Section
Exhibit
Milky Way Galaxy
If the Hayden Sphere is the size of the Local Group of galaxies, this model is the relative size of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Exhibit
Messier 87
If the Hayden Sphere is the size of the Local Group of galaxies, then this model is the relative size of Messier 87.
Exhibit
Messier 101
If the Hayden Sphere is the size of the Local Group of galaxies, then this model is the relative size of Messier 101.
Exhibit
NGC 1365
If the Hayden Sphere is the size of the Local Group of galaxies, then this model is the relative size of NGC 1365.
Exhibit
Messier 80
If the Hayden Sphere is the size of the Milky Way Galaxy, this model is the relative size of star cluster Messier 80.
Exhibit
Oort Cloud
If the Hayden Sphere is the size of the star cluster Messier 80, this model is the relative size of the Oort Cloud of comets.
Exhibit
Kuiper Belt
If the Hayden Sphere is the size of the Oort Cloud of comets, this model is the relative size of the Kuiper Belt of comets.
Exhibit
Rigel
If the Hayden Sphere is the size of the Kuiper Belt of comets, this model is the relative size of blue supergiant star Rigel.