Object description:
Our image shows the smaller galaxy group
Pavo-I in the constellation Peacock (Pavo). The
galaxy cluster contains about 10 galaxies, its centre is NGC 6876 - it is the brightest galaxy. The group has the
catalogue number LGG 342 (Lyons Group of
Galaxies). The distance is apparently only uncertain, the information varies
between 170 and 300 million light years, depending on the reference source. The
main members of this group are NGC 6872, NGC 6876 and NGC
6880, so the group is quite comparable to the local group of galaxies
around the Milky Way. However, our image also shows many other, fainter and
more distant galaxies with many different shapes in the field.
NGC 6872 - the Condor Galaxy
NGC 6872 is a spectacular barred spiral galaxy that has
the shape of an "integral sign". It is of type SBb and is accompanied by the
smaller interacting galaxy, IC 4970 of type S0
(just above the centre). The upper left spiral arm of NGC 6872 is considerably
disturbed, this may have been caused by a recent passage of IC 4970 through NGC
6872. The distance of NGC 6872 is apparently only imprecisely known. Wikipedia
gives a distance of about 200 million light years, other observations (ESO
1999,
see here give a distance of 300 million light years. Either
way, this makes it the second largest barred galaxy in the visible universe to
date. From tip to tip of the spiral arms, it measures between 500,000 and
750,000 light years, depending on the distance. |