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 The
Flavor of Spiral Galaxies
Spiral galaxies come in many shapes and sizes with
many different and intriguing features. Some have
rings, some have bars, some even have both. Because
the distribution of material in a spiral galaxy
is not uniform, but preferentially confined to a
disk of material, how that disk aligns to our line
of sight also dramatically changes the appearance
of spiral galaxies that we see. If a galaxy is nearly
face-on to us, we see it as though we are looking
down onto a pancake from above. If a galaxy is nearly
edge-on, it appears to us as if we are looking at
the pancake from the side or from the edge. The
range of angles between face-on (90°)
and edge-on (0°)
leaves a multitude of inclinations that help hide
or show some of the features of a galaxy's disk.
Although spiral galaxies do have inherint differences
in their structure, the inclination of spirals is
specific to how we view them from Earth.
Some examples of differently-inclined
spiral galaxies
(click on images to enlarge or learn
more)
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