NGC 2655 - Arp 225
"Floating in the serenity of the universe like a cosmic ammonite shell, NGC 2655 is an impressive example of a lenticular galaxy. Located 60 million light years away towards the constellation of Camelopardalis, its series of outer shell structures and faint tidal loops are nicely complemented by internal dust lanes near its core.
Its panoply of morphological kinematics are indicative of a merger between two galaxies in the past, an intergalactic event that is now known to be a common feature of the evolution of galaxies. Other signatures of a past merger that aren't apparent to the eye are vast clouds of neutral hydrogen surrounding the galaxy that were uncovered in observations made using radio telescopes by professional astronomers.
The unusual appearance of NGC 2655 brought it to the attention of the famous astronomer Halton Arp who added it to his atlas of peculiar galaxies under Arp 225. Another distinction is that the core is very luminous, which means that NGC 2655 belongs to the category of active galaxies known as Seyfert galaxies, which were named after the astronomer Karl Seyfert. The luminosity of Seyfert galaxies is thought to derive from a transfer of matter onto an accretion disk around a supermassive black hole.
NGC 2655 is the brightest member of a small group of galaxies that also includes NGC 2715 (not visible in image). The diameter of NGC 2655 is approximately 200,000 light years but the envelope of neutral hydrogen gas discovered in the 1980's is about 500,000 light years."
Description by "Sakib Rasool"
"Stellar Winds Observatory" a/k/a Stan Watson Observatory at Dark Sky New Mexico
Planewave 17", LRGB, 580,160,120,160
