Magellanic spiral galaxies are galaxies which are classified as the type Sm (and SAm , SBm , SABm). They are galaxies with one spiral arm, and are named after their prototype, the Large Magellanic Cloud

Large Magellanic Cloud

The Large Magellanic Cloud is a nearby irregular galaxy, and is a satellite of the Milky Way. At a distance of slightly less than 50 kiloparsecs , the LMC is the third closest galaxy to the Milky Way, with the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal and Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy lying closer to the center...

, an SBm galaxy.

Magellanic spirals

SAm galaxies are a type of unbarred spiral galaxy

Unbarred spiral galaxy

An unbarred spiral galaxy is a type of spiral galaxy without a central bar, or one that is not a barred spiral galaxy. It is designated with an SA in the galaxy morphological classification scheme.The Sombrero Galaxy is an unbarred spiral galaxy....

, while SBm are a type of barred spiral galaxy

Barred spiral galaxy

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...

. SABm are a type of intermediate spiral galaxy

Intermediate spiral galaxy

An intermediate spiral galaxy is a galaxy that is in between the classifications of a barred spiral galaxy and an unbarred spiral galaxy. It is designated as SAB in the galaxy morphological classification scheme.-Grades:...

.

Type Sm and Im galaxies have also been categorized as irregular galaxies with some structure (type Irr-1). Sm galaxies are typically disrupted and asymmetric. dSm galaxies are dwarf spiral galaxies or dwarf irregular galaxies

Dwarf galaxy

A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of up to several billion stars, a small number compared to our own Milky Way's 200-400 billion stars...

, depending on categorization scheme.

The Magellanic spiral classification was introduced by Gerard de Vaucouleurs

Gérard de Vaucouleurs

-External links:* * http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/normal_galaxies.html-Other resources:...

, along with Magellanic irregular (Im), when he revamped the Hubble classification of galaxies.

Grades

Magellanic Spiral Galaxies

EWLINE Magellanic Spirals Example Type Image Information Notes SAdm SAm SABdm SABm SBdm SBm Sdm Sm	EWLINE Dwarf Magellanic Spirals Example Type Image Information Notes dSAdm dSAm dSABdm dSABm dSBdm dSBm dSdm dSm

See also

• Galaxy morphological classification