Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Phoenix (Phe)  ·  Contains:  IC 1537  ·  NGC 55
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NGC 55 The String of Pearls Galaxy in Sculptor in RGB, Ian Parr
NGC 55 The String of Pearls Galaxy in Sculptor in RGB
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NGC 55 The String of Pearls Galaxy in Sculptor in RGB

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 55 The String of Pearls Galaxy in Sculptor in RGB, Ian Parr
NGC 55 The String of Pearls Galaxy in Sculptor in RGB
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 55 The String of Pearls Galaxy in Sculptor in RGB

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Description

NGC 55, the String of Pearls Galaxy in Sculptor, also referred to as The Whale Galaxy, is a Magellanic type barred spiral galaxy located about 6.5 million light-years away.  Along with its neighbour, NGC 300, it is one of the closest galaxies to the Local Group, probably lying between the Milky Way and the Sculptor Group and it is likely that NGC 55 and NGC 300 form a gravitationally bound pair.

After a fairly rubbish night (shouldn't complain about a moonless clear night ! but the seeing was woeful) I took a punt and left the scope running into the wee hours for 5 hours on this one.  And yes, it was worth having to get up at 5am to pack it away.

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NGC 55 The String of Pearls Galaxy in Sculptor in RGB, Ian Parr