NGC 55, also occasionally referred to as The Whale Galaxy, is a Magellanic type barred spiral galaxy located about 6.5 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. Along with its neighbor NGC 300, it is one of the closest galaxies to the Local Group, probably lying between the Milky Way and the Sculptor Group. It has an estimated mass of (2.0 ± 0.4) × 1010 M☉. NGC 55 and the spiral galaxy NGC 300 have traditionally been identified as members of the Sculptor Group, a nearby group of galaxies in the constellation of the same name. However, recent distance measurements indicate that the two galaxies actually lie in the foreground. It is likely that NGC 55 and NGC 300 form a gravitationally bound pair. The Webb Society Deep-Sky Observer’s Handbook writes the following about NGC 55: “Nearly edge-on and appears asymmetrical with some signs of dust near the bulge, which is diffuse, broad and somewhat elongated with the south edge sharp; southeast of the bulge it is strongly curved and lined with 4 or 5 faint knots; north edge of the curve is sharp.” Burnham calls it “one of the outstanding galaxies of the southern heavens”, somewhat resembling a smaller version of the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Telescope: Planewave CDK17 (FR) f4.5
Mount: Astro Physics 1600GTO
Camera: QHY16200A/ Integral FW
Guider: Agena Starguide II / SBIG STi

L: 51×10 mins = 510 mins, R: 24×10 mins = 240 mins, G: 22×10 mins = 220 mins, B: 24×10 mins = 240 mins

Total Imaging Time: 20h 10m

Data Imaged remotely over 6 nights during August 2021.
Imaged from Observatorio El Sauce, Chile, in partnership with Fred Espenak.
Data acquisition & Processing by David Churchill.

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