Flocculent spiral galaxy

Unlike the well-defined spiral architecture of a grand design spiral galaxy, flocculent (meaning "flaky") galaxies are patchy, with discontinuous spiral arms.

[1][2] Self-propagating star formation is the apparent explanation for the structure of flocculent spirals.

[3] Approximately 30% of spirals are flocculent, 10% are grand design, and the rest are referred to as "multi-armed".

[4] The multiple-arm type is sometimes grouped into the flocculent category.

[5] The prototypical flocculent spiral is NGC 2841.