By Jackie Appel
Copyright popularmechanics
The vastness of space allows for a huge variety of structures to pop up all over the place. Even things we think of as one-and-done objects—like galaxies—come in quite a few shapes and sizes. Follow Pop Mech’s Jackie Appel through a micro-lesson on all the types of galaxies floating around in the cosmos, and what makes each and every one of them special. You’ll learn about spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way, elliptical galaxies, and a weird-middle ground flavor of galaxy that few know even exists.You’ll see some irregular galaxies that look like nothing, and some barred spirals that look like everything. Along the way, you’ll learn about what kinds of stars make up each kind of structure, and how that makeup can show us the age of the galaxy. Plus, you’ll learn about what makes a galaxy “active.” Active galaxies come in a few different flavors all their own, which are determined by what sits at the heart of a given galaxy—quasar, blazar, or something else entirely. By the end, you’ll know just a little bit more about the makeup of the universe than you did before. Watch the full episode now, and don’t forget to check out the rest of our show, “Pop Mech Explains the Universe,” where we explore other fascinating space stories just like this one. (Editor’s Note: In this video, in an attempt to differentiate between galaxies with quasars and blazars at their centers, the two are mistakenly referred to as active galaxies. In fact, they are types of active galactic nuclei—massive objects at the centers of galaxies. The galaxies containing them should have been referred to as “quasar host galaxies.”)
