Galaxy

A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system consisting of stars, stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component called dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias (γαλαξίας), literally "milky", a reference to the Milky Way. Examples of galaxies range from dwarfs with as few as ten million (107) stars to giants with a hundred trillion (1014) stars, each orbiting their galaxy's own center of mass.

Famous quotes containing the word galaxy:

“for it is not so much to know the self
as to know it as it is known
by galaxy and cedar cone,
as if birth had never found it

and death could never end it:”
—Archie Randolph Ammons (b. 1926)