Elliptical galaxies are ellipsoidal agglomerations of stars, which usually do not contain much interstellar matter, and look smoothly like small wads when viewed through a telescope.

Some disk galaxies without much structure can hardly be distinguished from elliptical galaxies and thus are sometimes misclassified.

Elliptical galaxies are unlike spiral galaxies and hence unlike our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Ellipti-what?

The most popularly used classification of galaxies is due to Hubble (1925) and according to this categorization, there are two major groups: the spiral and elliptical galaxies, but there are also lenticulars and irregulars.

Before hitchhiking to and through elliptical galaxies, one must first familiarize themselves with all the other types of galaxies.

Spiral coils in space

Spirals like our own galaxy, fall into several classes depending on their shape and the relative size of their bulge or how they curve.

Spiral galaxies are characterized by the presence of gas in the disk which means star formation remains active at the present time, hence the younger population of stars. Spirals are usually found in the low density galactic field where their delicate shape can avoid disruption by tidal forces from neighboring galaxies.

The egg in space

Ellipticals on the other hand are placed in sub categories depending on their degree of ellipticity. They have a uniform luminosity and are similar to the bulge in a spiral galaxy, but with no disk. The stars are old and there is no gas present. Ellipticals are usually found in the high density field, at the center of clusters.

Irregular Lentils

The last two other types of galaxies are called Lenticular and Irregular. Lenticulars also possess both a bulge and a disk, but they have no spiral arms. There is little or no gas and so all the stars are old. They also appear to be an intermediate. Irregulars on the other hand are small galaxies, with no bulge and an ill-defined shape. Spots in the universe

Galaxies are like islands in the Universe, made of stars as well as dust and gas clouds. They come in different sizes and shapes.

Galaxies are not only distinct in shape, they also vary in size: some may be as “light” as a stellar globular cluster in our Milky Way (i.e. they contain about the equivalent of a few million Suns) while others may be more massive than a million Suns.

Presently, more than half of the stars in the Universe are located in massive spheroidal galaxies.

One of the main open questions of modern astrophysics and cosmology is how and when galaxies formed and evolved starting from the primordial gas that filled the early Universe.

In the most popular current theory, galaxies in the local Universe are the result of a relatively slow process where small and less massive galaxies merge to gradually build up bigger and more massive galaxies.

In this scenario, dubbed “hierarchical merging”, the young Universe was populated by small galaxies with little mass, whereas the present Universe contains large, old and massive galaxies, the very last to form in the final stage of a slow assembling process.

If this scenario were true, then one should not be able to find massive elliptical galaxies in the young universe. Or, in other words, due to the finite speed of light, there should be no such massive galaxies very far from us. And indeed, until now no old elliptical galaxy was known beyond a radio-galaxy that was discovered almost ten years ago.

And so the mystery of the elliptical galaxy continues. Continue hitchhiking through galaxies to understand things better and whatever happens, remember not to panic.

Origins of Modern Witchcraft: The Evolution of a World Religion
Author: Ann Moura
Trade Paperback, 336 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: October 2000
ISBN: 1567186483
More Information:
http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=1567186483

Given all the misinformation floating around the Neo-Pagan community about the origins of Wicca and other Neo-Pagan religions, I was pleased when the Origins of Modern Witchcraft arrived for review. Here was a book by the author one of the better recent series of “101″ books (Green Witchcraft I, II, and III). A book by an author with a masters in history. Unfortunately, my high hopes for this book were quickly dashed.

Origins of Modern Witchcraft is a readable and enjoyable romp through historical speculation. I enjoyed reading this book even as I picked it apart. Ann Moura has an engaging style of writing and the historical theory she presents is interesting. She is exploring the theory that there were two major ancient civilizations in Eurasia, the Sind in the Indus Valley and the Aryan invaders. The Sind were peaceful and advanced with a life-affirming God and Goddess while the Aryans were warlike invaders with angry, hostile Gods.

My first major problem with this book is the lack of footnotes. The author makes grand, sweeping claims throughout this book without providing much — if anything — to support them. For example, the author states that “the people of Sind understood the concepts of light years and the equivalent of modern astronomy’s ‘island universes’….” This is a remarkable claim, yet no support for it is provided. This volume is full of such remarkable claims, most unsupported.

My second major problem with this book is that it is very hostile to religions, beliefs, and practices it claims come from the Aryans. I got the impression from reading this book that those Aryan invaders were directly or indirectly responsible for every ill in Western and Near Eastern societies. While I suppose this is possible, it sounds more like scapegoating to me, especially given the lack of references.

Origins of Modern Witchcraft is unusual in one respect, at least for a history book; it includes a number of rituals. Each chapter has at least one ritual related to the material in the chapter. The rituals are well-designed and described, but seem a bit out of place in a history book.

I enjoyed reading this book (in the same way I enjoyed reading those outrageous “ancient astronaut” books when I was a teen), but was not convinced by it. It presents alternative, personal theory of history that seems designed to appeal to many Pagans, especially those who do not know much about ancient history. Without references to support all the amazing claims and statements made, however, the reader has no way to tell if this theory is likely or unlikely. Given the grand and sweeping nature of many of the claims made in this book, I personally have strong doubts about almost every claim made in the book. The author is basically saying that the history we are all taught is wrong. That is an outrageous claim to make without providing lots of references and other evidence to back the claim. Readers who prefer their history well-supported instead of declaratory will probably want to pass on this book as will those who prefer not to attempt to blame all the ills of history and the modern western world on one ancient people.

This review is one of hundreds of reviews of Pagan, Wiccan, occult, and metaphysical books in The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum’s Books and Reviews section at http://www.ecauldron.com/bookstore.php

About the Author

Randall Sapphire is the founder and co-host of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum ( http://www.ecauldron.com/ ), a popular Pagan Interfaith web site and message board. He is also an editor at The Cheap Web Hosting Report ( http://www.cheapwebhostingreport.com/ ) and webmaster for a number of other sites.