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NGC 1055: Galaxy in a Box

Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island universe spans about 100,000 light-years, similar in size to our own Milky Way. Colorful, spiky stars in this cosmic portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way. But along with a smattering of more distant background galaxies, the deep image also reveals a curious box-shaped inner halo extending far above and below this galaxy's dusty plane. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago.

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The link portrait of NGC 1055 in the text is very cool in full-screen mode; it shows off the beauty of the galaxy wonderfully!

Excellent photo.
Does anyone know the designation of the tiny polar ring galaxy north west of NGC 1055?

supamario wrote:Excellent photo.
Does anyone know the designation of the tiny polar ring galaxy north west of NGC 1055?

I believe it is PGC1164595 and is pretty tiny at .3 x .2 minutes. It is very intersting and makes me wish I had longer focal length than my 20" RCOS.

Kindest Regards,

Ken Crawford
http://www.imagingdeepsky.com

Wonderful picture - like a cosmic freezbe slicing through the universe

Hellos,

Todays APOD: NGC 1055, uses the word 'universe'

"Seen edge-on, the island universe spans about 100,000 light-years"

Does the word 'island' make this an idiom that means 'Galaxy'?

advTHANKSance -Art

Art wrote:Does the word 'island' make this an idiom that means 'Galaxy'?

Not an idiom exactly, but a term that historically meant "galaxy" (Kant used it in the 18th century), and today carries a somewhat poetic meaning for the same thing.

What is the interesting galaxy , shaped somewhat like Saturn and her rings , at about
the 10 )'clock position , in the distance , of todays ngc 1055 ?