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Spiral Galaxies

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 1:40 pm
by lmb5775
Do all galaxy spiral arms flow counter clockwise toward the center?

Re: Galaxies

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:25 pm
by RJN
Good question, but no. Here are some links that describe some recent findings in this, um, direction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_4622
http://astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=6478

Re: Galaxies

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:27 pm
by rstevenson
No. :)

Imagine a galaxy that has a spiral-in-to-the-left kind of look. Now flip that galaxy over (carefully!). Now it looks like it's sprialling in to the right. And when you figure that the way galaxies appear to us is entirely random, you have to conclude that there is no set pattern to such spirals.

Rob

Oops! RJN got there first.

Re: Galaxies

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:11 pm
by bystander
Here's a previous discussion on the topic: Spiral Galaxies.