spiral galaxy

noun

: a galaxy exhibiting a central nucleus or barred structure from which extend curved arms of higher luminosity

called also spiral nebula

Examples of spiral galaxy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Celestial cannonball galaxy Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of spiral galaxy IC 3225, which appears to be streaking though space like a cannonball, stretching its arms of stars out behind it in its wake. Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024 For example, the delicate structure of a spiral galaxy in the cluster Abell 3381, located 470 million light-years away, can be seen in the mosaic as well as light blue clouds between the stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 23 Oct. 2024 While studying the motion of spiral galaxies, Rubin discovered that the speed at which stars rotated around the center of their galaxies made sense only if these galaxies contained an additional mass weighing about 10 times more than the visible stars. Naomi Oreskes, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024 The first is a spiral galaxy; the second is an elliptical galaxy. Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, 12 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for spiral galaxy 

Word History

First Known Use

1913, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of spiral galaxy was in 1913

Dictionary Entries Near spiral galaxy

Cite this Entry

“Spiral galaxy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spiral%20galaxy. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.

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