#artifact or something more interesting?

• by jeffreyhrwtz

  Stumped on this one. Always wondered if some of our 'special' artifacts might be some interesting nearby stars with unusual qualities.

  Posted March 18, 2015 2:25 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  Zoomed out you can see an irregular galaxy, probably disturbed by the small galaxy to the right. The white star in front of it is a foreground star from our own galaxy:

  

  Posted March 18, 2015 4:09 PM

• by ElisabethB moderator

  Sorry, but which 'irregular' galaxy are you referring to?

  Posted March 18, 2015 6:37 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  The one in the center behind the white star. The spiral arm or arms are obviously disturbed, It is not a regular spiral galaxy.

  Posted March 18, 2015 8:10 PM

• by williamaskew

  I think he means the spiral whose arm is wrapped around the top.

  Posted March 18, 2015 8:11 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  Lots of galaxies that may have caused disturbances:

  

  Posted March 18, 2015 8:13 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  So the way I see it the central galaxy is disturbed and thus has an irregular shape.

  (And hey, is that a white dwarf top right?)

  Posted March 18, 2015 8:15 PM

• by ElisabethB moderator

  But it is still a spiral, only a disturbed one. No need to classify this one as irregular.

  Posted March 18, 2015 8:24 PM

• by Capella05 moderator

  Irregular Galaxies are a class of galaxy - just like we have elliptical, disk, lenticular, spiral galaxies.

  It is not a observation - for example "this galaxy looks disturbed" would be an observation.

  Only use the irregular hashtag / classification / expression when the galaxy is in fact an irregular galaxy! Otherwise 'disturbed' could do the trick.

  Posted March 18, 2015 8:44 PM

• by jeffreyhrwtz

  Thanks to all! I've returned to studying my astronomy; reading now: Henry Kiddle AM, Elements of Astronomy, pub. 1871 & remarkable document on how much was known back then.

  Posted March 20, 2015 9:01 AM