Flocculent spiral galaxy

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NGC 4414, a flocculent spiral

A flocculent spiral galaxy is a type of spiral galaxy, that is the functional opposite of the grand design spiral galaxy.[1] Unlike the well defined spiral architecture of a grand design galaxy, flocculent galaxies are patchy, with discontinuous spiral arms.[2] Approximately 30% of spirals are flocculent, 10% are grand design, and the rest are "multi-armed".[3] The "multiple arm" type is sometimes folded into the flocculent-type.[4]

The prototypical flocculent spiral is NGC 2841.[5]

Examples

Example Class Image Constellation Notes
NGC 4414 SA(rs)c 100px Coma Berenices [6]
NGC 2841 SA(r)b 100px Ursa Major [5]
NGC 7793 SA(s)d Phot-14b-09-fullres 2.JPG Sculptor [5]
Pinwheel Galaxy
(Messier 101)		 SAB(rs)cd M101 hires STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg Ursa Major [7]

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. ↑ Case Western Reserve University, Chris Mihos, ASTR222 - Spring 2008, "Spiral Structure" (accessed 23 April 2010)
  4. ↑ University of Virginia, Mark Whittle, ASTR 553/554 : Extragalactic Astronomy (2007), "Lecture 5: Spiral Galaxies" (accessed 23 April 2010)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "A Near-Infrared Atlas of Spiral Galaxies", Debra Meloy Elmegreen, "CH3. Discussion" (accessed 23 April 2010)
  6. ↑ APOD, "NGC 4414: A Flocculent Spiral Galaxy", 3 April 2002 (accessed 23 April 2010)
  7. ↑ Spitzer/JPL/NASA, "The Pinwheel Galaxy, M101, in the Infrared", 07.21.08 (accessed 23 April 2010)

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