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Galaxies of All Shapes and Sizes

Galaxies of All Shapes and Sizes
This artist's concept illustrates the two types of spiral galaxies that populate our universe: those with plump middles, or central bulges, and those without them. New observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope provide strong evidence that the slender, bulgeless galaxies can, like their chubbier counterparts, harbor supermassive black holes.

This artist’s concept illustrates the two types of spiral galaxies that populate our universe: those with plump middles, or central bulges (upper left), and those without them (foreground).
New observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope provide strong evidence that the slender, bulgeless galaxies can, like their chubbier counterparts, harbor supermassive black holes at their cores. Previously, astronomers thought that a galaxy without a bulge could not have a supermassive black hole. The findings are reshaping theories of galaxy formation.Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech