a-gax67-44005← Collection
images
Barred spiral galaxy NGC 6744 in Pavo
- Reference
- a-gax67-44005
- Date
- 2008-11-09
This beautiful galaxy is about 25 million light years away in the direction of Pavo, a constellation of the southern hemisphere winter. It sits in a rich starfield, and is strongly inclined to our line of sight. NGC 6744 is believed to one of the most Milky Way-like of all the nearby spirals, with fluffy (flocculent) spiral arms and a large and distinctly elongated nucleus. It also has other similarities to the Milky Way that are not visible here with at least one distorted companion galaxy superficially similar to one of the Magellanic Clouds.
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