NGC 1097 (Arp 77) – Barred spiral galaxy

Description:

NGC 1097 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Fornax. It is 50% larger than our own galaxy and is located 58 million light-years from us. There is a supermassive black hole at its center and the Hubble Space Telescope has detected a ring of star formation around the central region accompanied by a spiral of gas and dust which is being sucked into the black hole.

This galaxy is not often photographed from our latitude because it is never more than 15 degrees above the horizon. That’s why I took advantage of a trip to New Mexico to photograph it. It was then a little less than 30 degrees above the horizon.