Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Reticulum (Ret)  ·  Contains:  NGC 1313
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NGC 1313, the Topsy-Turvy galaxy, morrienz
NGC 1313, the Topsy-Turvy galaxy
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NGC 1313, the Topsy-Turvy galaxy

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 1313, the Topsy-Turvy galaxy, morrienz
NGC 1313, the Topsy-Turvy galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 1313, the Topsy-Turvy galaxy

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Description

NGC 1313 in the southern constellation of Reticulum is a "field galaxy" (gravitationally alone) and an unusual distorted barred spiral galaxy about 14 million light years from us. It is a site of much star formation (at a rate about 1000 times faster than our larger Milky Way galaxy) and has lopsided spiral arms and a rotational axis that is off-centre from the central bar. It is about half the size of our Milky Way galaxy. It has the distorted character of a galaxy that has gone through a collision or close interaction with another galaxy, but it sits on its own far from any other galaxies. One possibility is that a smaller galaxy it collided with has since been absorbed as part of NGC 1313. 

Also in the image are the galaxy NGC 1313a, 250 million light years distant, and the star HR 1014.

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