Galaxy Zoo Talk

Really neat and peculiar features in this spiral galaxy

  • ILykeSpayce by ILykeSpayce

    It's obvious that this galaxy is a spiral, whether it is barred or not I cannot quite determine. I would classify it further as an Sa normal or as an SBa barred spiral. There are several interesting features that I notice and would enjoy some feedback/discussion on.

    The first is the comparative stellar activity between the two galactic arms:

    • The bottom arm is very faint with the half-way point almost disappearing entirely. On the other hand, the uppermost arm contains several bright regions of (presumably) active, intense star formation.

    The second point of interest is the varying structure of the two galactic arms:

    • As stated above, the bottom arm seems more diffuse than its counterpart. I also noticed that it looks to be longer and stretch farther away from the galactic core.
    • The top arm is just plain wonky looking. It "hugs" the galactic core much more closely than the bottom arm, but it isn't as well defined(except the bright regions). It actually looks as if the bright regions are attached to the upper right part of the arm and off to the side.

    Could the irregularity of the bottom/top arms be due to interactions with the neighboring galaxy pictured below it? Or the object creeping in at the top? Am I totally wrong?

    Posted

  • Budgieye by Budgieye moderator

    This appears to be a clumpy galaxy, and would still be forming. Its irregular shape may be due to recent collisions and with other clumps. See this link for more info.

    A brief history of clumpy galaxies http://blog.galaxyzoo.org/2010/05/25/a-brief-history-of-clumpy-galaxies/

    Interaction? Hard to say, they don't seem to be interacting. The elliptical might be very much closer to us than that clumpy galaxy.

    Posted