Barred spiral galaxy

NGC 1300, viewed nearly face-on; Hubble Space Telescope image

A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. Bars are found in approximately two-thirds of all spiral galaxies. Bars generally affect both the motions of stars and interstellar gas within spiral galaxies and can affect spiral arms as well. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is classified as a barred spiral galaxy.

Edwin Hubble classified spiral galaxies of this type as "SB" (spiral, barred) in his Hubble sequence, and arranged them into sub-categories based on how open the arms of the spiral are. SBa types feature tightly bound arms, while SBc types are at the other extreme and have loosely bound arms. SBb-type galaxies lie in between. SB0 is a barred lenticular galaxy. A new type, SBm, was subsequently created to describe somewhat irregular barred spirals, such as the Magellanic Cloud galaxies, which were once classified as irregular galaxies, but have since been found to contain barred spiral structures. Among other types in Hubble's classifications for the galaxies are: spiral galaxy, elliptical galaxy and irregular galaxy.

The bars

Barred galaxies are apparently predominant, with surveys showing that up to two-thirds of all spiral galaxies contain a bar. The current hypothesis is that the bar structure acts as a type of stellar nursery, fueling star birth at their centers. The bar is thought to act as a mechanism that channels gas inwards from the spiral arms through orbital resonance, in effect funneling the flow to create new stars. This process is also thought to explain why many barred spiral galaxies have active galactic nuclei, such as that seen in the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy.

The creation of the bar is generally thought to be the result of a density wave radiating from the center of the galaxy whose effects reshape the orbits of the inner stars. This effect builds over time to stars orbiting further out, which creates a self-perpetuating bar structure.

Bars are thought to be temporary phenomena in the lives of spiral galaxies; the bar structures decay over time, transforming galaxies from barred spirals to more "regular" spiral patterns. Past a certain size the accumulated mass of the bar compromises the stability of the overall bar structure. Barred spiral galaxies with high mass accumulated in their center tend to have short, stubby bars. Since so many spiral galaxies have bar structures, it is likely that they are recurring phenomena in spiral galaxy development. The oscillating evolutionary cycle from spiral galaxy to barred spiral galaxy is thought to take on the average about two billion years.

Recent studies have confirmed the idea that bars are a sign of galaxies reaching full maturity as the "formative years" end. A team led by Kartik Sheth of the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena discovered that only 20 percent of the spiral galaxies in the distant past possessed bars, compared with nearly 70 percent of their modern counterparts.

Milky Way Galaxy Spiral Arms - based on WISE data.

Grades

The general classification is "SB" (spiral barred). The sub-categories are based on how open or tight the arms of the spiral are. SBa types feature tightly bound arms. SBc types are at the other extreme and have loosely bound arms. SBb galaxies lie in between. SBm describes somewhat irregular barred spirals. SB0 is a barred lenticular galaxy.

Examples

Example	Type	Image	Information
NGC 2787	SB0		SB0 is a type of lenticular galaxy
NGC 4314	SBa
NGC 4921	SBab
Messier 95	SBb
NGC 3953	SBbc
NGC 1073	SBc
Messier 108	SBcd
NGC 2903	SBd
NGC 5398	SBdm		SBdm can also be considered a type of barred Magellanic spiral
NGC 55	SBm	100px	SBm is a type of Magellanic spiral (Sm)

Other examples

Name	Image	Type	Constellation
M58		SBc	Virgo
M91		SBb	Coma Berenices
M95		SBb	Leo
M109		SBb	Ursa Major
NGC 1300		SBbc	Eridanus
NGC 1365		SBc	Fornax
NGC 2217		SBa	Canis Major
Magellanic Clouds		SBm	Dorado, Tucana

See also

• Galaxy morphological classification
• Galaxy formation and evolution
• Lenticular galaxy
• Spiral galaxy
• Firehose instability

External links

• Britt, Robert Roy. "Milky Way’s Central Structure Seen with Fresh Clarity." SPACE.com 16 August 2005.
  • An article about the Spitzer Space Telescope's Milky Way discovery
• Devitt, Terry. "Galactic survey reveals a new look for the Milky Way." 16 August 2005.
  • The original press release regarding the article above, from the Univ. of Wisconsin
• 'Barred' Spiral Galaxy Pic Highlights Stellar Birth." SPACE.com 2 March 2001.
• Hastings, George and Jane Hastings. Classifying Galaxies: Barred Spirals, 1995. "Astronomers Find Multiple Generations of Star Formation in Central Starburst Ring of a Barred Spiral Galaxy." January 15, 2000.
  • A press release concerning NGC 1326
• Barred spirals come and go Sky & Telescope April 2002.
• "ESO Provides An Infrared Portrait of the Barred Spiral Galaxy Messier 83." November 29, 2001.
  • A press release from the European Southern Observatory.

• Horton, Adam. "Spitzer NGC 1291 barred spiral galaxy seen in infrared." 22 October 2014.