NGC 1291 is also known as NGC 1269 as it was entered twice in the New General Catalog by two different 19th century observers who did not realize it was the same object.
NGC 1291 is around 33 million light years from Earth and is estimated to be 12 billion years old. It is an unusual galaxy as it is a barred Galaxy that Nasa listed at transitional. This is because while the main part of the galaxy is mature, there is a substantial star forming ring that can be observed mostly beyond the visible light spectrum.
Imaged in LRGB on our RiDK 700 at El Sauce, Obstech, Chile
Integration Time: 24 hours 30 minutes
Image Processing: Leo Orazi and Mike Selby