Galaxies come in a range of colours and sizes. In spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way, most stars are in a thin disc. The disc of the Milky Way has a radius of about 15 kpc, and contains ? 6 × 1010M of stars. The disc stars rotate around the centre of the galaxy on nearly circular orbits, with rotation speed vc ? 220 km s?1 almost independent of radius r (unlike themotion of planets in the …