AAO image reference AAT 26. « Previous || Next »
Top left is NE. Image width is about 14 arc min
Image and text © 1982-2010, Australian Astronomical Observatory, photograph by David Malin.
NGC 6822 is one of the nearest galaxies to the Milky Way and is thus a member of a small cluster known as the Local Group to which our Galaxy belongs. It is close enough to be resolved into individual stars, though because of its distance (about 1.8 million light years) only the brightest are seen, even with a telescope as powerful as the AAT. The galaxy is in the direction of Sagittarius, so is seen through a rich field of stars.
Like the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, NGC 6822 seems to be without symmetry and is classified as an irregular. At one end of a prominent bar a few clouds of glowing gas can be seen; at the other, bright bluish stars are scattered out into what appears to be the first signs of a straggling spiral arm.
Related Images
AAT 86. Bubble nebulae in NGC 6822
Constellation of Sagittarius (external site)
For details of photographic exposure, search technical table by AAT reference number