The Largest Known Spiral Galaxies:

212 million light-years from Earth, NGC 6872 drifts silently through the cosmos. At first glance, NGC 6872 seems like any other spiral galaxy. And in truth, it is like any other spiral galaxy, except that NGC 6872 is amazingly massive. In fact, NGC 6872 is one of the largest known spiral galaxies.

To learn about this amazing galaxy, see:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomers-find-the-largest-known-spiral-galaxy/

Image:
NASA

Get to Know Your Star: Classifying the Universe

We all know scientists like to classify and categorize things, especially in space where everything is unfamiliar. This unfamiliarity makes it hard to convey information accurately. On top of this, there’s a seemingly infinite amount of stars in the universe. Fortunately, astrophysics has come up with a snazzy system to tell them apart.

As we all know, stars are huge, bright spheres of gas spinning through space at incredible speeds. Stars provide the energy which makes (almost) all life on Earth possible. Even in death, stars provide us with life -- giving us the heavy elements necessary for our existence. By sorting out the differing types of stars in the universe we (the science community) can start to observe trends and similarities that will inevitably lead to a better understanding of the universe around us.

To learn just how massive (or tiny) the Sun is, check out:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/get-to-know-your-star-classifying-the-universe/

Image source:
NASA