Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  Barnard's galaxy  ·  IC 4895  ·  NGC 6822
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NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy (2017), Gary Imm
NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy (2017), Gary Imm

NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy (2017)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy (2017), Gary Imm
NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy (2017), Gary Imm

NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy (2017)

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Description

Some sky objects are imaged for their fantastic colors and shapes, and others are imaged because they are simply unique or interesting objects. Barnard's Galaxy, discovered by Dr. Barnard in 1881, falls into the latter category. This object is classified as an irregular dwarf galaxy because of its odd shape and is relatively small by galactic standards. The galaxy contains a mere 10 million stars - a very small number compared to our Milky Way Galaxy's estimated 400 billion stars. Interestingly, dwarf galaxies outnumber large ones in our universe. They get their random, blob-like forms from close encounters with other galaxies, when gravity's attraction can dramatically warp and scramble their shape.

This is one of the few galaxies outside of ours where we are image to image globular clusters.  I have indicated three of them - Hubble VII, SC 3 and SC6 - on the mouseover.

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    NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy (2017), Gary Imm
    Original
  • NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy (2017), Gary Imm
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B

Description: Mouseover showing globular clusters

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NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy (2017), Gary Imm