Elliptical Galaxy M87
Elliptical galaxy
M87 is a type of
galaxy that looks much different than our own
Milky Way Galaxy.
Even for an
elliptical galaxy,
though, M87 is peculiar.
M87 is much bigger than an average galaxy, appears near the
center of a whole
cluster of galaxies known as the
Virgo Cluster,
and shows an unusually high number of globular clusters.
These globular clusters
are visible as faint spots surrounding the bright center of
M87.
In general,
elliptical galaxies contain similar numbers of stars as
spiral galaxies, but are ellipsoidal in shape (spirals are mostly flat), have no spiral structure, and little
gas and
dust.
The
above image of M87 was taken recently by the
Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope
on top of the dormant volcano
Mauna Kea in
Hawaii,
USA.