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irregular galaxy

noun

Astronomy.

a galaxy with no specific form and a relatively low mass.

irregular galaxy

A galaxy that does not have the clearly defined shape and structure of typical elliptical, lenticular, or spiral galaxies. Irregular galaxies typically contain large amounts of gas and dust, and their stars are often young. They account for only a small percentage of known galaxies. Some irregular galaxies are the result of gravitational interactions or collisions between formerly regular galaxies. Many irregular galaxies orbit larger regular ones; the Magellanic Cloud galaxies orbiting the Milky Way are examples.
Compare elliptical galaxy lenticular galaxy spiral galaxy See more at Hubble classification system

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Word History and Origins

Origin of irregular galaxy¹

First recorded in 1960–65

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

In early observations, the burst appeared to have originated near an unidentifiable, amorphous blob, which astronomers initially thought was either a single, irregular galaxy or a group of three distant galaxies.

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But NGC 6822 is an example of an irregular galaxy.

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But the light signature revealed that the object was indeed located in a small, irregular galaxy about 500 million light-years from Earth.

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At the edge of the small, irregular galaxy that he was studying in the constellation Centaurus, he saw a large burst of light brighter than the entire galaxy itself that had not been there before.

From Time Magazine Archive

irregular flower irregularity

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