Description:
NGC 55 is a barred irregular galaxy located in the constellation Sculptor, about 6.5 million light-years away. It’s one of the closest galaxies outside our Local Group and is often compared to the Large Magellanic Cloud in both size and structure. Seen nearly edge-on from Earth, NGC 55 shows a striking, dusty disk crossed by lanes of gas and regions of active star formation.
Astronomers believe it may be gravitationally associated with the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 300, forming a small group within the Sculptor constellation.