The Misfits: Irregular & Peculiar Galaxies
Two remaining galaxy types include the irregular, classified as I and peculiar, classified as P. Both kinds of galaxies are usually experiencing vigorous star formation.
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The Large Magellanic Cloud is the most famous example of an Irregular Galaxy. It has no bulge, no spiral arms, just an amorphous grouping of stars in a bar shape. The location of SN 1987a is near the very large star forming region (pinkish red) just left of center. This galaxy has a lot of cold gas and dust. |
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This twisted mess is called a peculiar galaxy. Peculiar galaxies are frequently caused by collisions of two galaxies. Collisions strongly effect the evolution of those galaxies. Can you identify two nuclei? These make up NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 (the pair is also called Arp244). |