Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Draco (Dra)  ·  Contains:  NGC 6503
NGC 6503, Cheman
NGC 6503
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NGC 6503

NGC 6503, Cheman
NGC 6503
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 6503

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Description

Although the Universe may seem spacious most galaxies are clumped together in groups or clusters and a neighbor is never far away. But this galaxy, known as NGC 6503, has found itself in a lonely position, at the edge of a strangely empty patch of space called the Local Void. The Local Void is a patch of space thought to be about 150 million light-years across that seems to be curiously devoid of galaxies. Astronomers using Hubble discovered that the emptiness of this region has quite an effect on the space around us — the Milky Way is being strongly pulled away from it by the gentle but relentless tug of other nearby galaxies. NGC 6503 is only some 18 million light-years away from us in the constellation of Draco (The Dragon), making it one of the closest neighbors from our Local Group. It spans some 30 000 light-years, about a third of the size of the Milky Way.

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NGC 6503, Cheman