Galaxies

A galaxy is a large collection of stars, dust and gas. They are surrounded by dark matter, and are held together by gravity.

An image of the galaxy M64. There is bright white-yellow sphere in the centre, giving off a glow. Dark brown and black clouds of dust form a pinwheel shape around the centre. Within these clouds are numerous bright white dots of stars, though some appear more blue or red in colour. There are also a few stars visible against the black background. — The spiral galaxy M64

Understanding our Universe

The universe has always amazed people. Over time, our understanding of stars and galaxies has changed a lot.

An image of the galaxy NGC 4526 featuring a bright supernova (SN 1994D) in the lower left. The galaxy has a glowing core surrounded by dark, dust-filled spiral arms, creating a striking contrast in the image

This work by NASA, ESA, The Hubble Key Project Team, and The High-Z Supernova Search Team is licensed under Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal

Edwin Hubble

Occupation

Astronomer, Cosmologist

Year born

1889

Research Areas

Galaxies, Extra-galactic astronomy, Observational cosmology

A black and white photograph of Edwin Hubble. He is sat at his desk, facing the camera, holding an image of a galaxy in his hands.

Investigate the Milky Way

Galaxies are collections of millions, or billions of stars. The Milky Way is the galaxy in which we live, orbiting around it’s centre in a distant spiral arm.

Read more about Investigate the Milky Way

Investigate the Size of a Galaxy

Have you ever wondered how big a galaxy is? They contain millions to billions of stars but what does that really mean for size?

Reading about sizes in a book is one thing, but what if you could make an observation of a galaxy and then measure its size?

Read more about Investigate the Size of a Galaxy

Early Life

Ricardo was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His first degree in astronomy is from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Then in 1993, he got a master's degree from the Observatório Nacional in Brazil. Ricardo moved to the University of São Paulo, Brazil to work on a PhD. He was awarded his PhD in 1998.

Research Areas: Galaxy formation, Observational astronomy

"I consider myself extremely lucky to be where I am, do what I do, and to be surrounded by so many amazing people here in Liverpool."