Elliptic Galaxy N185
Created at
Credits
Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING)/IAC
Description
Central region of NGC185, an elliptical dwarf galaxy, belonging to the Local Group. The blue colour shows the existence of recent star formation in its centre. The majority of galaxies are composed of two structural components, the spheroidal bulge and the flattened disc. Galaxies are divided into broad categories based on the relative importance of these two components. Elliptical galaxies are those systems that have no disc component. They appear as fuzzy elliptical patches of light, diminishing smoothly in brightness from the centre outwards with no obvious internal structure. The stars within them are predominantly old.