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List of largest galaxies

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Below is a list of the largest galaxies so far discovered by size.

The order of this list is speculative, for the following reasons:

  • Galaxies don't have precise boundaries. From the center of mass, the stars just drop down in density proportionally with greater distance. This list puts the boundaries of galaxies within the 1 star per hundred light year squared critical limit, where stars will hold each other through gravity.
  • Most galaxies have uncertain emissions of light at different wavelengths. Such an example is IC 1101 whose X-ray emission extends to 6 million light years despite its smaller stellar diameter.
  • Most galaxies undergo gravitational perturbations, making their stars spread out, such as the Comet Galaxy. This list only puts the boundaries where the gravity of the galaxy is dominant and not by tidal tails or other interactions.

List

List of the largest galaxies
Galaxy Size (ly/pc) Type Description
IC 1101 5,800,000 ly (1,800,000 pc) ± 800,000 ly (250,000 pc)[1] E3 Once reported in the late 1980s with an extremely large size, detailed analysis of its stellar halo finally reduced it to half of its original value.
NGC 262
(Markarian 348) 		2,600,000 ly (800,000 pc)
(H I halo) 		S0-a The huge neutral hydrogen halo of this galaxy makes it large; the stellar diameter of this galaxy is only 88,000 light-years.
BCG of Phoenix Cluster 2,200,000 ly (670,000 pc) E3 Massive elliptical starburst galaxy
NGC 4874 >1,000,000 ly (310,000 pc) cD
300 other Abell cluster BCGs >1,000,000 ly (310,000 pc)
A2261-BCG 1,000,000 ly (310,000 pc) cD E
ESO 306-17 1,000,000 ly (310,000 pc)[2] cD3
NGC 4889 1,000,000 ly (310,000 pc) cD;E4;Dd
UGC 2885 416,000–832,000 ly (128,000–255,000 pc) Sc
Malin 1 650,000 ly (200,000 pc)[3] SB0a The largest spiral galaxy.
Comet Galaxy 600,000 ly (180,000 pc) Spiral
NGC 6872 370,000–522,000 ly (113,000–160,000 pc)[4] SB(s)b pec
The following well-known galaxies are listed for the purpose of comparison.
Galaxy Size (ly/pc) Type Description
Messier 87 490,000 ly (150,000 pc) E+0-1 pec
Tadpole Galaxy 280,000 ly (86,000 pc) SB(s)c pec
Andromeda Galaxy 220,000 ly (67,000 pc) SA(s)b This is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way and was often referred to as the Great Andromeda Nebula in older texts.
NGC 1232 170,000 ly (52,000 pc) SAB(rs)c
Messier 101 ~170,000 ly (52,000 pc) SAB(rs)cd
NGC 7331 142,000 ly (44,000 pc) SA(d)b NGC 7331 is the brightest member of the NGC 7331 Group of galaxies.
Milky Way Galaxy 100,000–180,000 ly (31,000–55,000 pc) SBc The home galaxy of humankind.

Angular size

Apparent area

List of the galaxies with the largest visual areas
Galaxy Size
(square arcminutes) 		Type Description
Andromeda Galaxy 7200 [NB 1][5] SA(s)b [6] With apparent dimensions of 190'×60' ; Andromeda is the galaxy with the largest apparent size [5][6]
Triangulum Galaxy 7080 [5] SA(s)cd [6] Apparent dimensions: 70.8'×41.7' [5][6]

Apparent diameter

List of the widest visual galaxies
Galaxy Size (arcseconds) Type Description
Andromeda Galaxy 9000[NB 2][7] SA(s)b [6] With apparent dimensions of 190'×60' ; Andromeda is the galaxy with the largest apparent size [6][7]

Notes

  1. ^ 2 square degrees
  2. ^ 2.5 degrees

References

  1. ^ http://sciencegaveuslot.com/ic-1101-largest-galaxy-known-in-universe/
  2. ^ MSNBC, "A Giant Among Galaxies ?", Alan Boyle, 4 March 2010 (accessed 5 March 2010)
  3. ^ Crosswell, Ken (22 January 2007). "Malin 1: A Bizarre Galaxy Gets Slightly Less So". KenCroswell.com.
  4. ^ "NASA's GALEX Reveals the Largest-Known Spiral Galaxy". NASA. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d Kenneth Glyn Jones (1991). Messier's Nebulae and Star Clusters. Cambridge University Press. p. 7. ISBN 9780521370790.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "NED results for object MESSIER 031". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database.
  7. ^ a b Rudolf Kurth (22 October 2013). Introduction to Stellar Statistics. Vol. 10. Pergamon Press. p. 5. ISBN 9781483184951. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

See also

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