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Credit & Copyright: CHART32 Team,
Processing -
Johannes Schedler
Explanation:
About 70,000 light-years across,
NGC 247
is a spiral galaxy smaller than our Milky Way.
Measured to be
only 11 million light-years distant it is nearby though.
Tilted nearly edge-on as seen
from our perspective,
it dominates this telescopic field of view toward the
southern constellation Cetus.
The pronounced void on one side of the galaxy's disk recalls
for some its popular name, the Needle's Eye galaxy.
Many background galaxies are visible in
this sharp
galaxy portrait, including the remarkable string of four galaxies
just below and left of NGC 247 known
as Burbidge's Chain.
Burbidge's Chain galaxies are about 300 million light-years distant.
The deep image even reveals that the two leftmost galaxies in the chain are
apparently interacting, joined by a faint bridge of material.
NGC 247 itself is part of the Sculptor Group of galaxies along with the
shiny spiral NGC 253.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy
Publications with words: spiral galaxy
See also: