Why are galalxies spiral?

Question

In every picture we see that galaxies are spiral, why so? are there any other shapes possible?

Welcome to physics.SE! Have you checked online, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy ? — Vangi, Jun 12 '19 at 19:12
Not every picture of a galaxy is spiral. There are elliptical galaxies out there. — Kyle Kanos, Jun 12 '19 at 19:31

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 12 '19 at 20:46

1

Yes, other shapes are possible. For example, here is a picture from NASA of M87, an elliptical galaxy:

It doesn’t look spiral at all.

answered Jun 12 '19 at 20:46

G. Smith

Minor quibble: that picture is from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, not from NASA. – Peter Erwin Oct 01 '21 at 18:21

1 Answers1