NGC 4449
Elliptical and Irregular Nebulae
The only criterion available for further classification appears to be the degree of elongation. Elliptical nebulae have accordingly been designated by the symbol “E,” followed by a single figure, numerically equal to the ellipticity (a – b)/a with the decimal point omitted. The complete series is E0, E1, ..., E7, the last representing a definite limiting figure which marks the junction with the spirals.
The frequency distribution of ellipticities shows more round or nearly round images than can be accounted for by the random orientation of disk-shaped objects alone. It is presumed, therefore, that the images represent nebulae ranging from globular to lenticular, oriented at random. No simple method has yet been established for differentiating the actual from the projected figure of an individual object, although refined investigation furnishes a criterion in the relation between nuclear brightness and maximum diameters. For the present, however, it must be realized that any list of nebulae having a given apparent ellipticity will include a number of tilted objects having greater actual ellipticities. The statistical average will be too low, except for E7, and the error will increase with decreasing ellipticity.
Normal spirals.—All regular nebulae with ellipticities greater than about E7 are spirals, and no spirals are known with ellipticities less than this limit. At this point in the sequence, however, ellipticity becomes insensitive as a criterion and is replaced by conspicuous structural features which now become available for classification. Of these, practically speaking, there are three which fix the position of an object in the sequence of forms: (1) relative size of the unresolved nuclear region; (2) extent to which the arms are unwound; (3) degree of resolution in the arms. The form most nearly related to the elliptical nebulae has a large nuclear region similar to E7, around which are closely coiled arms of unresolved nebulosity. Then follow objects in which the arms appear to build up at the expense of the nuclear regions and unwind as they grow; in the end, the arms are wide open and the nuclei inconspicuous. Early in the series the arms begin to break up into condensations, the resolution commencing in the outer regions and working inward until in the final stages it reaches the nucleus itself. In the larger spirals where critical observations are possible, these condensations are found to be actual stars and groups of stars.
The structural transition is so smooth and continuous that the selection of division points for further classification is rather arbitrary. The ends of the series are unmistakable, however, and, in a general way, it is possible to differentiate a middle group. These three groups are designated by the non-committal letters “a,” “b,” and “c” attached to the spiral symbols “S,” and, with reference to their position in the sequence, are called “early,” “intermediate,” and “late” types.[10] A more precise subdivision, on a decimal scale for example, is not justified in the present state of our knowledge.
In the early types, the group Sa, most of the nebulosity is in the nuclear region and the arms are closely coiled and unresolved. N.G.C. 3368 and 4274 are among the latest of this group.
The intermediate group, Sb, includes objects having relatively large nuclear regions and thin rather open arms, as in M 81, or a smaller nuclear region with closely coiled arms, as in M 94. These two nebulae represent the lateral extension of the sequence in the intermediate section. The extension along the sequence is approximately represented by N.G.C. 4826, among the earliest of the Sb, and N.G.C. 3556 and 7331, which are among the latest. The resolution in the arms is seldom conspicuous, although in M 31, a typical Sb, it is very pronounced in the outer portions.
PLATE XIII
