NGC 7020

NGC 7020
NGC 7020

NGC 7020 is a lenticular galaxy approximately 149 million light years away in the constellation Pavo.
The structure of NGC 7020 is unusual it has a regular shaped outer ring which is fully detached from the main galaxy. Inside the outer ring is an inner ring with with a hexagon surrounding an X shape. The X shape is unusual to find inside a regular ring, and it is thought that it might be do to a merger or interaction with another galaxy. There is a debate as to whether the galaxy is barred or unbarred as the bar is not obvious, yet various classifications list it as barred.
Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile
Image acquisition and processing: Mike Selby

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *