A Postcard from Extragalactic Space?

A spiral galaxy that resembles our Milky Way
ESO astronomers have used the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope to capture an image of NGC 6744. This impressive spiral galaxy lies about 30 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Pavo (The Peacock). But this view could almost be a picture postcard of our own Milky Way, taken and sent by an extragalactic friend, as this galaxy closely resembles our own.

Zooming in on the spiral galaxy NGC 6744
This sequence starts with a view of the southern part of the Milky Way. As we zoom in we can first see the globular star cluster NGC 6752 and then the spiral galaxy NGC 6744, lying about 30 million light-years from us in the constellation of Pavo (The Peacock). We also catch a glimpse of the small irregular galaxy NGC 6744A, which lies close to NGC 6744. The final detailed view shows a new image of NGC 6744 from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.