What the FAQ: Do galaxies really die? What are their lifespans?

Recently the Hubble Space Telescope captured a picture of a dying galaxy in space. The galaxy NGC 1947 was discovered by a Scottish astronomer James Dunlop 200 years ago. NGC 1947 can be seen from the Southern Hemisphere in the constellation Dorado, the dolphinfish. It is for the first time that the astronomers witnessed this phenomenon in a distant galaxy and this was found when the galaxy started to eject gases used to form stars.

Therefore, we decided to find out more about the dying of a galaxy and how many years do galaxies survive and so on.

When do galaxies die?
Galaxies die when the formation of stars stops in them or when the gas that forms stars is lost.

How long do galaxies last?
Stars like the sun last only for 10 billion years but the smallest and coolest red dwarfs live for only a few trillion years.

Do galaxies have a lifecycle?
Galaxies are born and they evolve over a period of time. They don't have a particular lifecycle like stars. For instance, some galaxies grow and some are swallowed by bigger galaxies.

Are there different types of galaxies?
Galaxies can be classified into four types and they are spiral, lenticular, elliptical and irregular galaxies.

For how long will our galaxy, Milky Way will last?
According to the scientists, Milky Way Galaxy has a star-forming gas in its tank and it must be healthy. But the scientists also believe that in about four billion years, the formation of stars will stop and in the lifecycle of our universe, it is just a blink of an eye!