| Description | This is an irregular Magellanic type galaxy. "Irregular" in that it doesn't fit into the standard shape classification scheme. This usually starts with spiral (relatively new) with an obvious structure, made up (usually) of two or more arms, and ends with elliptical (old, devoid of structure), with lenticular in the middle. This galaxy is boxy and consists of one, big arm (hence Magellanic, one-armed), in the same way that the large Magellanic Cloud appears relative to the Milky Way. NGC 4449 is considered a starburst galaxy due to its high rate of star formation, twice the rate of the LMC. |
