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An '''irregular galaxy''' is a type of [[galaxy]] that has no obvious symmetry and structure.<ref name=britannica>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/galaxy/Types-of-galaxies#ref559198 Galaxies] from britannica.com</ref> Irregular galaxies account for around 3% of galaxies in the night sky, though some estimate it is closer to 20%.<ref>[http://cas.sdss.org/dr6/en/proj/basic/galaxies/irregular.asp Irregular galaxies] from cas.sdss.org, Sloan Digital Sky Survey estimates abundance of irregular galaxies is around 3%</ref><ref>[http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/219-What-is-an-irregular-galaxy- What is an irregular galaxy] from coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu, the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center as [[NASA]] estimates irregular galaxies make up for 20% of all galaxies</ref> An example of an irregular galaxy is the [[Magellanic Clouds|Large Magellanic Cloud]].
==Classification==
Irregular galaxies are split into two groups, "Irr I" and "Irr II".<ref name=britannica/> Type Irr I is much more common than Irr II and have similarities with [[spiral galaxy|spiral galaxies]] such as containing mostly blue [[star]]s and some have a bar. They do not have any arms and have a very small nucleus if any, and so are sometimes considered an extension of the Sc class of spiral galaxies on the Hubble tuning fork diagram.
Meanwhile, Irr II galaxies tend to be red and also contain large amounts of dust.<ref name=britannica/><ref>[http://www.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro201/galaxies/types.htm Galaxy classification] from astro.cornell.edu</ref> This dust makes it very difficult to identify individual stars in a type Irr II galaxy.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Galaxies}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]