Image | Galaxy | Constellation | Origin of name | Notes |
| Andromeda Galaxy | Andromeda | Andromeda, which is shortened from "Andromeda Galaxy", gets its name from the area of the sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda. | Andromeda is the closest big galaxy to the Milky Way and is expected to collide with the Milky Way around 4 billion years from now. The two will eventually merge into a single new galaxy called Milkomeda. |
| Antennae Galaxies | Corvus | Looks are similar to an insect's antennae. | |
| Backward Galaxy | Centaurus | It appears to rotate backwards, as the tips of the spiral arms point in the direction of rotation. | |
| Black Eye Galaxy | Coma Berenices | It has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus, giving rise to its nicknames of the "Black Eye" or "Evil Eye" galaxy. | |
| Bode's Galaxy | Ursa Major | Named for Johann Elert Bode who discovered this galaxy in 1774. | |
| Butterfly Galaxies | Virgo | Looks are similar to a butterfly. | |
| Cartwheel Galaxy | Sculptor | Its visual appearance is similar to that of a spoked cartwheel. | |
| Cigar Galaxy | Ursa Major | Appears similar in shape to a cigar. | |
| Circinus Galaxy | Circinus | Named after the constellation it is located in. | |
| Coma Pinwheel Galaxy | Coma Benerices | Named after its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy and its location in the Coma Benerices constellation. | |
| Comet Galaxy | Sculptor | This galaxy is named after its unusual appearance, looking like a comet. | The comet effect is caused by tidal stripping by its galaxy cluster, Abell 2667. |
| | Sextans | The name of this galaxy is based on a Redshift measurement of nearly 7. | Galaxy Cosmos Redshift 7 is reported to be the brightest of distant galaxies and to contain some of the earliest first stars that produced the chemical elements needed for the later formation of planets and life as we know it. |
| Eye of Sauron | Canes Venatici | Due to its resemblance to the Eye of sauron from the Lord of the Rings | |
| Fireworks Galaxy | Cygnus and Cepheus | Due to its bright and spotty appearance. | |
| Hockey Stick Galaxies | Canes Venatici | Its elongated and curved appearance resembles a hockey stick. | |
| Hoag's Object | Serpens Caput | This is named after Art Hoag, who discovered this ring galaxy. | It is of the subtype Hoag-type galaxy, and may in fact be a polar-ring galaxy with the ring in the plane of rotation of the central object. |
| Large Magellanic Cloud | Dorado/Mensa | Named after Ferdinand Magellan | This is the fourth largest galaxy in the Local Group, and forms a pair with the SMC, and from recent research, may not be part of the Milky Way system of satellites at all. |
| Lindsay-Shapley Ring | Volans | Named after its discoverer, Eric Lindsay, his professor Harlow Shapley, and its nature as a ring galaxy. | |
| Little Sombrero Galaxy | Pegasus | Named after its similarity to the Sombrero Galaxy. | |
| Medusa Merger | Ursa Major | Ejected dust from the merging galaxies is said to look like the snakes that the Gorgon Medusa from Greek mythology had on her head. | |
| Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy | Sculptor | Similar to the Sculpture Galaxies | |
| Mice Galaxies | Coma Berenices | Looks are similar to a mouse. | |
| Small Magellanic Cloud | Tucana | Named after Ferdinand Magellan | This forms a pair with the LMC, and from recent research, may not be part of the Milky Way system of satellites at all. |
| Mayall's Object | Ursa Major | This is named after Nicholas Mayall, of the Lick Observatory, who discovered it. | Also called VV 32 and Arp 148, this is a very peculiar looking object, and is likely to be not one galaxy, but two galaxies undergoing a collision. Event in images is a spindle shape and a ring shape. |
| Milky Way | Sagittarius | The appearance from Earth of the galaxy – a band of light. | The galaxy containing the Sun and its Solar System, and therefore Earth. |
| Needle Galaxy | Coma Berenices | Named due to its slender appearance. | |
| Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte | Cetus | Named for the three astronomers instrumental in its discovery and identification. | |
| Pinwheel Galaxy | Ursa Major | Similar in appearance to a pinwheel. | |
| Sculptor Galaxy | Sculptor | Named after its location in the Sculptor Constellation. Also called the Silver Dollar or Silver Coin Galaxy, because of its light and circular appearance. | |
| Sombrero Galaxy | Virgo | Similar in appearance to a sombrero. | |
| Southern Pinwheel Galaxy | Hydra | Named after its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy and its location in the southern celestial hemisphere. | |
| Sunflower Galaxy | Canes Venatici | Similar in appearance to a sunflower. | |
| Tadpole Galaxy | Draco | The name comes from the resemblance of the galaxy to a tadpole. | This shape resulted from tidal interaction that drew out a long tidal tail. |
| Triangulum Galaxy | Triangulum | Named after its location within the Triangulum constellation. | |
| Whirlpool Galaxy | Canes Venatici | From the whirlpool appearance this gravitationally disturbed galaxy exhibits. | |
| Malin 1 | Coma Berenices | Discovered and named by David Malin. | |
Galaxy | Apparent Magnitude | Distance | Constellation | Notes |
Milky Way | −6.5 | 0 | Sagittarius | This is the galaxy containing the Sun and its Solar System, and therefore Earth. Most things visible to the naked-eye in the sky are part of it, including the Milky Way composing the Zone of Avoidance. |
Large Magellanic Cloud | 0.9 | 160 kly | Dorado/Mensa | Visible only from the southern hemisphere. It is also the brightest patch of nebulosity in the sky. |
Small Magellanic Cloud | 2.7 | 200 kly | Tucana | Visible only from the southern hemisphere. |
Andromeda Galaxy | 3.4 | 2.5 Mly | Andromeda | Once called the Great Andromeda Nebula, it is situated in the Andromeda constellation. |
Triangulum Galaxy | 5.7 | 2.9 Mly | Triangulum | Being a diffuse object, its visibility is strongly affected by even small amounts of light pollution, ranging from easily visible in direct vision in truly dark skies to a difficult averted vision object in rural/suburban skies. |
Centaurus A | 6.84 | 13.7 Mly | Centaurus | Centaurus A has been spotted with the naked eye by Stephen James O'Meara. |
Bode's Galaxy | 6.94 | 12 Mly | Ursa Major | Highly experienced amateur astronomers may be able to see Messier 81 under exceptional observing conditions. |
Sculptor Galaxy | 7.2 | 12 Mly | Sculptor | NGC 253 has been observed with the naked eye by Timo Karhula. |
First | Galaxy | Constellation | Year | Notes |
First spiral galaxy | Messier 51 | Canes Venatici | 1845 | Lord William Parsons, Earl of Rosse discovered the first spiral nebula from observing M51. |
Notion of galaxy | Milky Way Galaxy & Messier 31 | Sagittarius & Andromeda | 1923 | Recognition of the Milky Way and the Andromeda nebula as two separate galaxies by Edwin Hubble. |
First Seyfert galaxy | NGC 1068 | Cetus | 1943
| The characteristics of Seyfert galaxies were first observed in M77 in 1908, however, Seyferts were defined as a class in 1943. |
First radio galaxy | Cygnus A | Cygnus | 1951 | Of several items, then called radio stars, Cygnus A was identified with a distant galaxy, being the first of many radio stars to become a radio galaxy. |
First quasar | 3C273 | Virgo | 1962 | 3C273 was the first quasar with its redshift determined, and by some considered the first quasar. |
First quasar | 3C48 | Triangulum | 1960 | 3C48 was the first "radio-star" with an unreadable spectrum, and by others considered the first quasar. |
First superluminal galactic jet | 3C279 | Virgo | 1971 | The jet is emitted by a quasar |
First low-surface-brightness galaxy | Malin 1 | Coma Berenices | 1986 | Malin 1 was the first verified LSB galaxy. LSB galaxies had been first theorized in 1976. |
First superluminal jet from a Seyfert | III Zw 2 | Pisces | 2000 | |
Title | Galaxy | Constellation | Distance | Notes |
Closest galaxy | Canis Major Dwarf | Canis Major | 0.025 Mly | Discovered in 2003, a satellite of the Milky Way, slowly being cannibalised by it. |
Most distant galaxy | GN-z11 | Ursa Major | z=11.09 | With an estimated distance of about 32 billion light-years or 13.4 GLY astronomers announced it as the most distant astronomical galaxy known. |
Closest quasar | 3C 273 | Virgo | z=0.158 | First identified quasar, this is the most commonly accepted nearest quasar. |
Most distant quasar | ULAS J1342+0928 | Boötes | z=7.54 | This quasar was discovered in December 2017. It has a redshift of 7.54 making it the most distant known quasar in the universe. As of November 2018 it is still the most distant quasar. |
Closest radio galaxy | Centaurus A | Centaurus | 13.7 Mly | |
Most distant radio galaxy | TGSS J1530+1049 | Serpens | z=5.72 | This radio galaxy was discovered in 2018, and is currently the most distant radio galaxy known. |
Closest Seyfert galaxy | Circinus Galaxy | Circinus | 13 Mly | This is also the closest Seyfert 2 galaxy. The closest Seyfert 1 galaxy is NGC 4151. |
Most distant Seyfert galaxy | | | z= | |
Closest blazar | Markarian 421 | Ursa Major | z=0.030 | This is a BL Lac object. |
Most distant known blazar | Q0906+6930 | Ursa Major | z=5.47 | This is a flat spectrum radio-loud quasar type blazar. |
Closest BL Lac object | Markarian 421 | Ursa Major | z=0.030 | |
Most distant BL Lac object | | | z= | |
Closest LINER | | | | |
Most distant LINER | | | z= | |
Closest LIRG | | | | |
Most distant LIRG | | | z= | |
Closest ULIRG | IC 1127 | Serpens Caput | z=0.018 | |
Most distant ULIRG | | | z= | |
Closest starburst galaxy | Cigar Galaxy | Ursa Major | 3.2 Mpc | |
Most distant starburst galaxy | SPT 0243-49 | | z=5.698 | |
Galaxies | Data | Notes |
- Milky Way Galaxy
- Large Magellanic Cloud
- Small Magellanic Cloud
| | The Magellanic Clouds are being tidally disrupted by the Milky Way Galaxy, resulting in the Magellanic Stream drawing a tidal tail away from the LMC and SMC, and the Magellanic Bridge drawing material from the clouds to our galaxy. |
Whirlpool Galaxy NGC 5195 | | The smaller galaxy NGC 5195 is tidally interacting with the larger Whirlpool Galaxy, creating its grand design spiral galaxy architecture. |
M81 M82 NGC 3077 | | These three galaxies interact with each other and draw out tidal tails, which are dense enough to form star clusters. The bridge of gas between these galaxies is known as Arp's Loop. |
NGC 6872 and IC 4970* NGC 6872* IC 4970 | | NGC 6872 is a barred spiral galaxy with a grand design spiral nucleus, and distinct well-formed outer barred-spiral architecture, caused by tidal interaction with satellite galaxy IC 4970. |
Tadpole Galaxy | | The Tadpole Galaxy tidally interacted with another galaxy in a close encounter, and remains slightly disrupted, with a long tidal tail. |
Galaxies | Data | Notes |
Antennae Galaxies | 2 galaxies | Two spiral galaxies currently starting a collision, tidally interacting, and in the process of merger. |
Butterfly Galaxies | 2 galaxies | Two spiral galaxies in the process of starting to merge. |
Mice Galaxies | 2 galaxies | Two spiral galaxies currently tidally interacting and in the process of merger. |
NGC 520 | 2 galaxies | Two spiral galaxies undergoing collision, in the process of merger. |
NGC 2207 and IC 2163 | 2 galaxies | These are two spiral galaxies starting to collide, in the process of merger. |
NGC 5090 and NGC 5091 | 2 galaxies | These two galaxies are in the process of colliding and merging. |
NGC 7318 | 2 galaxies | These are two starting to collide |
Four galaxies in CL0958+4702 | 4 galaxies | These four near-equals at the core of galaxy cluster CL 0958+4702 are in the process of merging. |
Galaxy protocluster LBG-2377 | z=3.03 | This was announced as the most distant galaxy merger ever discovered. It is expected that this proto-cluster of galaxies will merge to form a brightest cluster galaxy, and become the core of a larger galaxy cluster. |
Galaxy name | Distance | Constellation | Property | Notes |
M87 | | Virgo | | This is the central galaxy of the Virgo Cluster, the central cluster of the Local Supercluster It contains the first black hole ever imaged, in April 2019, by the Event Horizon Telescope. |
M102 | | Draco | | This galaxy cannot be definitively identified, with the most likely candidate being NGC 5866, and a good chance of it being a misidentification of M101. Other candidates have also been suggested. |
NGC 2770 | | Lynx | "Supernova Factory" | NGC 2770 is referred to as the "Supernova Factory" due to three recent supernovae occurring within it. |
NGC 3314 | | Hydra | exact visual alignment | This is a pair of spiral galaxies, one superimposed on another, at two separate and distinct ranges, and unrelated to each other. It is a rare chance visual alignment. |
ESO 137-001 | | Triangulum Australe | "tail" feature | Lying in the galaxy cluster Abell 3627, this galaxy is being stripped of its gas by the pressure of the intracluster medium, due to its high speed traversal through the cluster, and is leaving a high density tail with large amounts of star formation. The tail features the largest amount of star formation outside of a galaxy seen so far. The galaxy has the appearance of a comet, with the head being the galaxy, and a tail of gas and stars. |
Comet Galaxy | | Sculptor | interacting with a galaxy cluster | Lying in galaxy cluster Abell 2667, this spiral galaxy is being tidally stripped of stars and gas through its high speed traversal through the cluster, having the appearance of a comet. |
4C 37.11 | 230 Mpc | Perseus | Least separation between binary central black holes, at 24 ly | OJ 287 has an inferred pair with a 12-year orbital period, and thus would be much closer than 4C 37.11's pair. |
SDSS J150636.30+540220.9
| z = 0.608 | Boötes | Most efficient star production | Most extreme example in the list of moderate-redshift galaxies with the highest density starbursts yet observed found in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer data. |
Cosmos Redshift 7 | z = 6.604 | Sextans | Brightest distant galaxy | Galaxy Cosmos Redshift 7 is reported to be the brightest of distant galaxies and to contain some of the earliest first stars that produced the chemical elements needed for the later formation of planets and life as we know it. |