A giant diffuse galaxy is a supermassive,
elliptical galaxy that is usually located in the centre of a
cluster of galaxies. The term is often contracted to cD galaxies or BCGs (for
brightest cluster galaxies). Giant diffuse galaxies are on average about 10 times more
luminous than "regular" galaxies, and many times larger than a normal elliptical galaxy - some having diameters of over 6 million
light years (the
Milky Way, in contrast, is thought to be only around 100 thousand light years across). Giant diffuse galaxies are usually the largest galaxies in their respective clusters.
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A huge
elliptical galaxy found at the centre of a
cluster of galaxies . The cD designation stands for "cluster dominating". It is thought that these
galaxies have grown to such gargantuan proportions because they have merged with other galaxies. Indeed, several cD galaxies are observed to have multiple
galactic nuclei , as if they are still in the process of 'cannibalising' smaller galaxies.
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