Glossary term: Elliptical Galaxy
Description: An elliptical galaxy is a type of galaxy that has a regular, elliptical appearance like a sphere squashed on one or two axes, in contrast to disk galaxies which appear pancake-shaped. It typically contains mostly old stars of yellow-red color. Elliptical galaxies typically have very little gas and very little ongoing star formation compared to spiral galaxies.
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Term and definition status: This term and its definition have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".
