Lenticular Galaxy Facts for Kids

A Picture of a Lenticular Galaxy
  • Common Name: Lenticular galaxy
  • Hubble Sequence Class: Lenticular
  • Denotes: S0 and SB0
  • Appearance Characteristics: Large Scale Disc, No Spiral Arms
  • Example Galaxies: Sombrero and Cartwheel

10 Lenticular Galaxy Facts for Kids

  1. A lenticular galaxy is a type of galaxy on the Hubble sequence classification scheme.
  2. Lenticular galaxies are also referred to as armless-spirals and armless-disc galaxies.
  3. There are two main types of lenticular galaxies, and they are S0 and SB0.
  4. A lenticular galaxy will have either used up or lost most of its interstellar matter (dust and gas), which will reduce or prevent the formation of stars.
  5. Most lenticular galaxies are very old and have stars that are far down the stellar evolution process.
  6. A lenticular galaxy has a large disc, but no spiral arms.
  7. An example of a S lenticular galaxy is the Cartwheel Galaxy, also known as ESO 350-40 and PGC 2248.
  8. An example of a Sb lenticular galaxy is NGC 2787.
  9. An example of a Sa lenticular galaxy is Messier 85, also known as NGC 4382.
  10. A possible example of a S0 lenticular galaxy is Messier 86, also known as NGC 4406.

Additional Resources with Lenticular Galaxy Facts