Flocculent_spiral_galaxy

Flocculent spiral galaxy

Flocculent spiral galaxy

Patchy galaxy with discontinuous spiral arms

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]

NGC 2775, a prominent flocculent spiral galaxy

The prototypical flocculent spiral is NGC 2841.[6]

List of flocculent spiral galaxies

More information Example, Class ...

References

  1. [1]
    COSMOS – SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy, "Grand Design Spiral" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)
  2. [2]
    COSMOS – SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy, "Flocculent Spiral" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)
  3. [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. [4]
    Case Western Reserve University, Chris Mihos, ASTR222 – Spring 2008, "Spiral Structure" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)
  5. [5]
    University of Virginia, Mark Whittle, ASTR 553/554 : Extragalactic Astronomy (2007), "Lecture 5: Spiral Galaxies" Archived 7 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 23 April 2010)
  6. [6]
    "A Near-Infrared Atlas of Spiral Galaxies", Debra Meloy Elmegreen, "CH3. Discussion" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)
  7. [7]
    "Hubble Spots Feathered Spiral". NASA. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  8. [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. [9]
    NASA (2015). . Retrieved 2 March 2017

Sources

Look up flocculent spiral galaxy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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