A Distant Spiral Galaxy Revealed
Drifting in the southern constellation Corona Australis, IC 4808 appears as a delicate spiral galaxy about 146 million light-years away. Spanning 2.1 by 0.7 arcminutes in the sky, it measures roughly 105,000 light-years across, comparable in size to our own Milky Way.
Classified as an SAB(rs)c spiral galaxy, IC 4808 features a weak central bar, a subtle transitional ring structure, and loosely wound spiral arms sprinkled with young, hot stars and regions of ongoing star formation. Its gentle bluish hues hint at youthful stellar populations, while the warmer glow at its core reveals older stars.
IC 4808 has a visual magnitude of about 13.3, making it quite faint and visible only in larger amateur or professional telescopes. Though small and modest in this view, it sits against a deep backdrop of countless distant galaxies, each one a vast island universe—a quiet reminder of how much awaits discovery in the cosmic depths.
Modern astrophotography makes it possible to reveal even galaxies like this, transforming faint smudges into glimpses of distant worlds.
Imaged in LRGB on my Planewave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image acquisition and processing: Mike Selby