An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A transitional class of object between the classic spiral galaxies and true irregular systems. The → Large Magellanic Cloud, the nearest and best studied example of the class, is, contrary to popular opinion, not an irregular galaxy. The LMC and other members of the SBm class have definite structural signatures. They are generally dominated by a pronounced asymmetric bar -- one that is offset from the optical center of the galaxy -- with a nascent spiral arm emanating from one end. As is the case with irregular galaxies, the optical centers of SBm type systems are not particularly special places. Disk systems later than Sc characteristically lack a central stellar concentration in addition to having weak spiral structure; this is true of SBm-type galaxies. SBm galaxies are typically very active in their star formation activity, often containing a large star-forming complex situated at one end of the bar. Beyond these general trends there is a tremendous amount of dispersion in physical properties within the SBm class, particularly in the strength of the spiral structure. At one extreme are the "one-armed" spirals such as NGC 3664 and NGC 4027 which are dominated by single, looping spiral arm. On the other hand NGC 4861 shows little evidence of spiral structure and it is dominated by a large star-forming complex at one end of its bar. The class smoothly leads to the Barred Magellanic irregulars (IBm) which show no indication of spiral structure (Wilcots et al. 1996, AJ 111, 1575).

→ Magellanic; → spiral; → galaxy.

A class of low-mass galaxies with relatively rare features. In particular, these galaxies are characterized by a → stellar bar whose center is displaced from that of the disk and a one-armed spiral. The → Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is considered the prototype of this class of objects. However, despite a wealth of data, there is still a good deal of uncertainty concerning the nature of the LMC's bar. The majority of the observed Magellanic spirals in the nearby Universe share the LMC's structure, in particular the evidence of an offset bar and a one-armed spiral structure. A good example of these systems is NGC 3906, which shows evidence of the bar offset from the photometric center of the galaxy by 1.2 kpc (Pardy et al., 2016, ApJ 827, 149).

→ Magellanic; → spiral; → galaxy.