When to Use the Hubble Tuning Fork 3D Explorer
Open the Hubble Tuning Fork 3D Explorer when you want a hands-on answer to how astronomers sort galaxy shapes into elliptical, lenticular, normal spiral, and barred spiral - and how a real, named galaxy like the Milky Way fits into that system.
Sessions this explorer fits
Students and teachers introducing galaxy types for the first time, readers who want to know whether the Milky Way is a "normal" or "barred" spiral, anyone curious what E0 through E7 actually mean, and quiz-night hosts who want a fun, sourced "guess the real galaxy" activity all get a direct answer here.
Sessions this explorer does not fit
Sessions this page does not fit are studying one specific spiral galaxy's own internal structure and scale in depth, which is on the Galaxy 3D Simulator - that page renders one galaxy's spiral arms and star count, not the classification system that sorts every galaxy type. Walk through the controls in the step-by-step guide.
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