For a long time, it was believed that the Universe consisted solely of the Milky Way, the galaxy which is home to our Solar System. The galaxies were then simply diffuse objects in the sky, referred to as “nebulae”. It was in the mid-19th century, thanks to the observations by Lord Rosse, that it became clear that these nebulae were in fact star systems in their own right, separate from the Milky Way. Since then, we have learned more about the structures and dynamics of these giants.
Using the example of galaxy Messier 51, the astrophysicist Vincent Minier takes us on a journey to the fascinating world of the Galaxies.
For more information: The evolution of the galaxies is measured on gigantic time scales. Therefore, in order to study them, scientists need a large quantity of galaxy images in order to observe them at different stages in their development. Scientists today have a large quantity of data at their disposal but, because of the potentially complex forms of these galaxies, it is sometimes hard to analyse them automatically. On the Zoonivers participative science platform, you can therefore help astrophysicists classify galaxies via the Galaxy Zoo project. This is a fun way of learning how to recognise galaxies, while at the same time helping science to advance. There are other participative projects on galaxies in Zoonivers.