NGC 4772 is a peculiar spiral galaxy located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, near the southern edge of the Virgo Cluster. At first glance it appears like a classic early-type spiral, with a bright bulge and tightly wound inner arms. But in deeper exposures, the story becomes far more interesting.
This galaxy is composed of two distinct disk components: a bright, inner stellar disk surrounded by a faint, extended outer ring or pseudoring. The core shows a smooth population of older stars, while the dusty inner disk is laced with tightly wound spirals, dark lanes, and subtle traces of star formation. The outer envelope, in contrast, is nearly featureless—smooth, faint, and extended—like the ghost of a second galaxy wrapped around the first.
NGC 4772 spans about 3.2 by 1.8 arcminutes in the sky, which corresponds to an actual size of approximately 51,000 by 29,000 light-years. The outer disk appears slightly warped and asymmetrical, with low surface brightness features barely visible even in long exposures. These traits have led astronomers to suspect that NGC 4772 is the remnant of a galactic merger or accretion event—possibly a small gas-rich satellite that was absorbed into the primary disk.
In this deep view, delicate blue hints of young stars can still be seen near the inner arms, while faint dust filaments streak through the midplane. The surrounding field is peppered with distant background galaxies, scattered across the frame like silent witnesses to this galaxy’s layered past.
Imaged in LRGB on my Planewave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image acquisition and processing: Mike Selby