Flocculent spiral galaxy

NGC 2841, the prototypical flocculent spiral galaxy

A flocculent spiral galaxy is a type of spiral galaxy. Unlike the well-defined spiral architecture of a grand design spiral galaxy, flocculent (meaning "fluffy") galaxies are patchy, with discontinuous spiral arms.[1][2] Self-propagating star formation is the apparent explanation for the structure of flocculent spirals.[3] Approximately 30% of spirals are flocculent, 10% are grand design, and the rest are referred to as "multi-armed".[4] The multiple-arm type is sometimes grouped into the flocculent category.[5]

The prototypical flocculent spiral is NGC 2841.[6]

Examples

Example Class Image Constellation Notes
NGC 4414 SA(rs)c Coma Berenices [7]
NGC 2841 SA(r)b Ursa Major [6]
NGC 3521 SAB(rs)bc Leo [6]
NGC 7793 SA(s)d Sculptor [6]
Sunflower Galaxy
(Messier 63)		 SAB(rs)cd Canes Venatici [8]

References

  1. ↑ COSMOS - SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy, "Grand Design Spiral" (accessed 23 April 2010)
  2. ↑ COSMOS - SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy, "Flocculent Spiral" (accessed 23 April 2010)
  3. ↑ Masters, Karen (September 2002), What is the Origin of Spiral Structure in Galaxies, archived from the original on 2007-06-09, retrieved 2007-05-30
  4. ↑ Case Western Reserve University, Chris Mihos, ASTR222 - Spring 2008, "Spiral Structure" (accessed 23 April 2010)
  5. ↑ University of Virginia, Mark Whittle, ASTR 553/554 : Extragalactic Astronomy (2007), "Lecture 5: Spiral Galaxies" (accessed 23 April 2010)
  6. 1 2 3 4 "A Near-Infrared Atlas of Spiral Galaxies", Debra Meloy Elmegreen, "CH3. Discussion" (accessed 23 April 2010)
  7. ↑ Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (3 April 2002). "NGC 4414: A Flocculent Spiral Galaxy". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  8. ↑ NASA (2015). . Retrieved Mar. 2, 2017

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.