🌌Galaxy vs Nebula☁️
Galaxies and nebulae are both spectacular sights in deep space, but they are very different things — one is a star system, the other raw material.
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🌌Galaxy
- ✓A huge gravitationally bound system of stars
- ✓Contains billions to trillions of stars
- ✓Has a defined structure: spiral, elliptical or irregular
- ✓Holds stars, gas, dust, planets and dark matter
- ✓Our Milky Way is one example among trillions
☁️Nebula
- ✓A cloud of interstellar gas and dust
- ✓Often the birthplace of new stars
- ✓Much smaller than a galaxy
- ✓Can glow, reflect light or appear dark
- ✓Frequently found within galaxies, including ours
Verdict
A galaxy is a massive star city; a nebula is a cloud of gas and dust often inside a galaxy. Nebulae are the nurseries where stars form, so they are part of galactic life cycles.
Frequently asked
Are nebulae inside galaxies?+
Usually yes. Most nebulae lie within galaxies, including many visible in our own Milky Way.
Why are some nebulae called star nurseries?+
Gravity pulls their gas and dust together until it collapses and ignites into new stars.
How big is a typical galaxy?+
Galaxies span tens of thousands of light-years and contain billions or trillions of stars.
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