elliptical galaxies have a large range in size. the giant elliptical galaxy can be over a more 1 million light years and the smallest (know as "dwarf elliptical galaxy") are less than one-tenth the size of milky way the size of an elliptical galaxy can be measured as an effective radius which defines the area from which half its light comes. the mass of elliptical galaxy is also large. a giant elliptical galaxy can have mass of 1013 (many trillions) of solar masses.