Galaxy Zoo Talk

bad spiral

  • reishi by reishi

    Can anyone tell me why this spiral is distorted? Never seen one like this before. Thanks!

    Posted

  • walfy by walfy

    Most likely a recent merger, still sporting an odd shape, will settle in shortly.

    Posted

  • fupper by fupper

    How beautiful! Would be right at home in a Japanese watercolor painting. Yes, I agree most probably distorted by either a) recent merging, or b) being pulled out of orbit by another galaxy.

    Posted

  • groveda by groveda

    A triangle too

    Posted

  • trevor_allen_faller by trevor_allen_faller

    i don't think it was a merger but a flyby where there was a close encounter and the gravity distorted the spiral and extended the arm. note there is only one arm

    Posted

  • dweilant by dweilant

    The distortion may be the result of only one arm rotating inside a parabolic spiral arm. It acts like a centrifuge causing periodic fluctuations in the gravitational field. Instead of "bad spiral", I would call this the #Centrifuge Galaxy. #Triangle Galaxy would be another descriptive name.

    Posted