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]

The prototypical flocculent spiral is NGC 2841.^[6]

List of flocculent spiral galaxies

Example	Class	Constellation	Notes
NGC 1325	SBbc	Eridanus
NGC 1353	SBb	Eridanus
NGC 2775	SA(r)ab	Cancer	^[7]
NGC 2841	SA(r)b	Ursa Major	^[6]
NGC 3521	SAB(r s)bc	Leo	^[6]
NGC 4298	SA(r s)c	Coma Berenices
NGC 4414	SA(r s)c	Coma Berenices	^[8]
NGC 7793	SA(s)d	Sculptor	^[6]
Sunflower Galaxy (Messier 63)	SAB(r s)cd	Canes Venatici	^[9]

References

^ COSMOS – SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy, "Grand Design Spiral" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)
^ COSMOS – SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy, "Flocculent Spiral" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)
^ 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
^ Case Western Reserve University, Chris Mihos, ASTR222 – Spring 2008, "Spiral Structure" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)
^ 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)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "A Near-Infrared Atlas of Spiral Galaxies", Debra Meloy Elmegreen, "CH3. Discussion" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)
^ "Hubble Spots Feathered Spiral". NASA. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
^ Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (3 April 2002). "NGC 4414: A Flocculent Spiral Galaxy". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
^ NASA (2015). [1]. Retrieved 2 March 2017

Sources

PDF A Near-Infrared Atlas of Spiral Galaxies, Debra Meloy Elmegreen, 1981, doi:10.1086/190757, Bibcode:1981ApJS...47..229E

External links

COSMOS astronomy encyclopedia – Flocculent Spiral

[1] COSMOS – SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy, "Grand Design Spiral" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)

[2] COSMOS – SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy, "Flocculent Spiral" (Retrieved 23 April 2010)

[Masters-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" (Retrieved 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 (Retrieved 23 April 2010)

[Elmegreen-1981-CH3-6] "A Near-Infrared Atlas of Spiral Galaxies", Debra Meloy Elmegreen, "CH3. Discussion" (Retrieved 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). [1]. Retrieved 2 March 2017

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v t e Galaxies
Morphology	Disc Lenticular barred unbarred Spiral anemic barred flocculent grand design intermediate Magellanic unbarred Dwarf galaxy elliptical irregular spheroidal spiral Elliptical galaxy cD Irregular barred Peculiar Ring Polar
Structure	Active galactic nucleus Bar Bulge Central massive object Galactic Center Dark matter halo Disc Disc galaxy Halo corona Galactic plane Galactic ridge Interstellar medium Protogalaxy Galaxy filament Spiral arm Supermassive black hole Ultramassive
Active nuclei	Blazar LINER Markarian Quasar BL Lacertae object Radio X-shaped DRAGN Relativistic jet Seyfert
Energetic galaxies	Lyman-alpha emitter Lyman-break Luminous infrared ULIRG HLIRG ELIRG Starburst blue compact dwarf pea faint blue Luminous infrared galaxy Hot dust-obscured Green bean galaxy Hanny's Voorwerp Wolf-Rayet galaxy
Low activity	Low surface brightness Ultra diffuse Dark galaxy Red nugget Blue Nugget Dead disk
Interaction	Field Galactic tide Groups and clusters group cluster Brightest cluster galaxy fossil group Interacting merger collision cannibalism Jellyfish Satellite Stellar stream Superclusters Walls Voids and supervoids void galaxy
Lists	Galaxies Galaxies named after people Largest Nearest Polar-ring Ring Spiral Groups and clusters Large quasar groups Quasars List of the most distant astronomical objects Starburst galaxies Superclusters Voids
See also	Extragalactic astronomy Galactic astronomy Galactic coordinate system Galactic habitable zone Galactic magnetic fields Galactic orientation Galactic quadrant Galaxy color–magnitude diagram Galaxy formation and evolution Galaxy rotation curve Gravitational lens Gravitational microlensing Illustris project Intergalactic dust Intergalactic stars Intergalactic travel Population III stars Galaxy X (galaxy)
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