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Galaxies

Galactic Dust and Nebulae

How much interstellar medium is there in galaxies?

About one percent of the luminous mass of a galaxy like the Milky Way (that is, excluding the non-baryonic dark matter) is interstellar medium. The rest of the mass consists primarily of stars and the end stages of stellar evolution, including white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes.



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