Largest Spiral Galaxy in the Universe Confirmed --FiveTimes Size of the Milky Way
Updated: 2013-01-11 16:32:46
The Daily Galaxy Great Discoveries Channel : Sci , Space , Tech Follow the Daily Galaxy Image of the Day : Mystery Cloud at Milky Way's Center Main January 11, 2013 Largest Spiral Galaxy in the Universe Confirmed FiveTimes Size of the Milky Way The spectacular barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 has ranked among the biggest stellar systems for decades . Now a team of astronomers from the United States , Chile and Brazil has crowned it the largest-known spiral , based on archival data from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer GALEX mission , which has since been loaned to the California Institute of Technology , Pasadena , Calif . Measuring tip-to-tip across its two outsized spiral arms , NGC 6872 spans more than 522,000 light-years , making it more than five times the size of our Milky . Way Without