Elliptical galaxies are shaped like ellipses (stretched circles). They are divided into eight types: E0-E7 depending on how elliptical they are. E0 ellipticals are nearly circular, while E7s are very stretched out. Elliptical ...
An elliptical galaxy is a type of galaxy having an approximately ellipsoidal shape and a smooth, nearly featureless brightness profile. Unlike flat spiral galaxies with organization and structure, they are more three-dimensional, without much structure, and their stars are in somewhat random orbits around the center.
Most of the ellipctical galaxies have older stars(usually yellow and red) and the interstellar space is sparse with no gas or dust left for the birth of new stars. Therefore the big number of old stars shows that the star formation activity ended a long time ago. Another interesting fact about these galaxies is the orbit of the stars which can be explained in one word: Haotic.
Unlike a spiral galaxy whose stars have a nearly circular orbit(*excepting those near the core), a elliptical galaxy has all the stars orbiting haoticaly- every star has its own orbit because there is no gas or dust to keep them on a plane like in the spiral ones. That's why elliptical galaxies may seem 3D while our Milky way is flat and 2D when viewed from above.