Flocculent spiral galaxy

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NGC 2775, a prominent flocculent spiral galaxy Birds of a feather (50071190086).jpg
NGC 2775, a prominent 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 "flaky") 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]

Contents

The prototypical flocculent spiral is NGC 2841. [6]

List of flocculent spiral galaxies

ExampleClassImageConstellationNotes
NGC 1325 SBbc NGC 1325 -HST09042 18-R814GB450.png Eridanus
NGC 1353 SBb NGC 1353 -HST06359 49-606.png Eridanus
NGC 2775 SA(r)ab Birds of a feather (50071190086).jpg Cancer [7]
NGC 2841 SA(r)b NGC 2841.jpg Ursa Major [6]
NGC 3521 SAB(r s)bc NGC3521-eso1129a.jpg Leo [6]
NGC 4298 SA(r s)c NGC 4298 cropped.jpg Coma Berenices
NGC 4414 SA(r s)c NGC 4414 (NASA-med).jpg Coma Berenices [8]
NGC 7793 SA(s)d Phot-14b-09-fullres 2.JPG Sculptor [6]
Sunflower Galaxy
(Messier 63)
SAB(r s)cd M63 (NGC 5055).jpg Canes Venatici [9]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irregular galaxy</span> Class of galaxy

An irregular galaxy is a galaxy that does not have a distinct regular shape, unlike a spiral or an elliptical galaxy. Irregular galaxies do not fall into any of the regular classes of the Hubble sequence, and they are often chaotic in appearance, with neither a nuclear bulge nor any trace of spiral arm structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whirlpool Galaxy</span> Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a (M51a) or NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. It is 32 million light-years away and 109,000 ly (33,280 pc) in diameter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barred spiral galaxy</span> Spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars

A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. Bars are found in about two thirds of all spiral galaxies, and generally affect both the motions of stars and interstellar gas within spiral galaxies and can affect spiral arms as well. The Milky Way Galaxy, where the Solar System is located, is classified as a barred spiral galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 63</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici

Messier 63 or M63, also known as NGC 5055 or the seldom-used Sunflower Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici with approximately 400 billion stars. M63 was first discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain, then later verified by his colleague Charles Messier on June 14, 1779. The galaxy became listed as object 63 in the Messier Catalogue. In the mid-19th century, Anglo-Irish astronomer Lord Rosse identified spiral structures within the galaxy, making this one of the first galaxies in which such structure was identified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1300</span> Galaxy in the constellation Eridanus

NGC 1300 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 61 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. The galaxy is about 110,000 light-years across. It is a member of the Eridanus Cluster, a cluster of 200 galaxies. It was discovered by John Herschel in 1835.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4414</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices - aka the tother one

NGC 4414 is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 62 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is a flocculent spiral galaxy, with short segments of spiral structure but without the dramatic well-defined spiral arms of a grand design spiral. Four supernovae have been observed in this galaxy: SN 1974G, SN 2013df, SN 2021J, and SN 2023hlf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7793</span> Galaxy in the constellation Sculptor

NGC 7793 is a flocculent spiral galaxy in the southern constellation of Sculptor. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. The galaxy is located at a distance of 12.2 million light years and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 227 km/s. NGC 7793 is one of the five brightest galaxies within the Sculptor Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2841</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

NGC 2841 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major. It was discovered on 9 March 1788 by German-born astronomer William Herschel. J. L. E. Dreyer, the author of the New General Catalogue, described it as, "very bright, large, very much extended 151°, very suddenly much brighter middle equal to 10th magnitude star". Initially thought to be about 30 million light-years distant, a 2001 Hubble Space Telescope survey of the galaxy's Cepheid variables determined its distance to be approximately 14.1 megaparsecs or 46 million light-years. The optical size of the galaxy is 8.1 × 3.5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2997</span> Galaxy in the constellation Antlia

NGC 2997 is a face-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 40 million light-years away in the faint southern constellation of Antlia. It was discovered March 4, 1793 by German-born astronomer William Herschel. J. L. E. Dreyer described it as, "a remarkable object, very faint, very large, very gradually then very suddenly bright middle and 4 arcsec nucleus. This is the brightest galaxy of the NGC 2997 group of galaxies, and was featured on the cover of the first edition of Galactic Dynamics by James Binney and Scott Tremaine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4088</span> Galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major

NGC 4088 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. The galaxy forms a physical pair with NGC 4085, which is located 11 away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5676</span> Galaxy in the constellation Boötes

NGC 5676 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Boötes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4323</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4323 is a lenticular or dwarf elliptical galaxy located about 52.5 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy was discovered in 1882 by astronomer Wilhelm Tempel and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3223</span> Faint spiral galaxy in the constellation Antlia

NGC 3223 is a faint spiral galaxy in the constellation Antlia. It was discovered on February 2, 1835 by the English astronomer John Herschel. The galaxy lies at a distance of approximately 110 million light years away and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 2,896 km/s. The morphological class of NGC 3223 is SA(s)b, indicating it is a spiral with no central bar (SA), no inner ring feature, and moderately tightly wound spiral arms. The galactic plane is inclined at an angle of 46° to the line of sight from the Earth, with the major axis along a position angle of 128°. It has at least two well-defined arms and is flocculent in appearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debra Elmegreen</span> American astronomer

Debra Meloy Elmegreen is an American astronomer. She was the first woman to graduate from Princeton University with a degree in astrophysics, and she was the first female post-doctoral researcher at the Carnegie Observatories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4689</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4689 is a spiral galaxy located about 54 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. NGC 4689 is also classified as a LINER galaxy. NGC 4689 is inclined at an angle of about 36° which means that the galaxy is seen almost face-on to the Earth's line of sight. NGC 4689 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 12, 1784. The galaxy is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4294</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4294 is a barred spiral galaxy with flocculent spiral arms located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4298</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4298 is a flocculent spiral galaxy located about 53 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 8, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4299</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4299 is a featureless spiral galaxy located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4393</span> Galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices

NGC 4393 is a spiral galaxy about 46 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 11, 1785. It is a member of the NGC 4274 Group, which is part of the Coma I Group or Cloud.

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 9 June 2007, retrieved 30 May 2007
  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" Archived 7 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine (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. "Hubble Spots Feathered Spiral". NASA. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  8. Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (3 April 2002). "NGC 4414: A Flocculent Spiral Galaxy". Astronomy Picture of the Day . NASA . Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  9. NASA (2015). . Retrieved Mar. 2, 2017

Sources