How does the Milky Way differ from other galaxies?

1 Answer

The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy.

Explanation:

Galaxies come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny dwarf galaxies of less than a billion stars, to monster galaxies of over a trillion stars.
They also come in many different shapes, from blobby irregular galaxies to spirals, rings, and giant ellipticals.

And within each there are many different types, such as spirals with few or many arms, small or large central bulge etc.

So asking how is the milky way different from other galaxies is a bit like asking how you are different from other people. In many ways it is very similar to many other galaxies, but also very different from others.

http://learnaboutastronomy.weebly.com/different-types-of-galaxies.html