Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sculptor (Scl)  ·  Contains:  IC 1537  ·  NGC 55
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NGC55 irregular galaxy in Sculptor, Patrick Dufour
NGC55 irregular galaxy in Sculptor
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NGC55 irregular galaxy in Sculptor

Acquisition type: Electronically-Assisted Astronomy (EAA, e.g. based on a live video feed)
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NGC55 irregular galaxy in Sculptor, Patrick Dufour
NGC55 irregular galaxy in Sculptor
Powered byPixInsight

NGC55 irregular galaxy in Sculptor

Acquisition type: Electronically-Assisted Astronomy (EAA, e.g. based on a live video feed)

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Description

NGC55 is one of the large galaxies in the southern hemisphere, located in the Sculptor's constellation very close to the border with the Phoenix. At a distance of just under 7 million light years, it was long considered to belong to the Sculptor group of galaxies, but recent distance measurements indicate that the latter and its neighbor NGC 300 are not part of the of this group but are in fact on the same line of sight. With a dimension of 32x6 arc minutes, it is classified as an SB spiral, magellanic (having only one spiral arm) and seen on the edge. Solved are nodes of giant blue stars and some of its large HII emission nebulae. There is no clear band of absorbent material as can be seen for other spiral galaxies, but a certain amount of dust spots. Very asymmetrical, we can notice its small bulge being totally off-center. This could well be a sign of disturbance, as the other great spiral NGC 300 is only around 1 million light years away and there may well be an interaction.

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NGC55 irregular galaxy in Sculptor, Patrick Dufour

In these public groups

Astro-Québec
Astroimaging from Chile