Figure 1. NGC 5866

Roughly 14% of all galaxies are classified as lenticulars, such as in Figure 1. These are similar to ellipticals in many ways.

• They have elliptical forms.
• The galactic boundaries are indistinct.
• They are comprised mainly of old stars.
• There is very little interstellar plasma.
• The consistency of rotation varies with the aspect ratio.

For these reasons, many scientists consider lenticulars to be related to ellipticals, just with a higher aspect ratio. The main difference is that lenticulars have a distinct disc made of dust. This makes them similar to spiral galaxies, except that the dust is not organized into discrete lanes.