Key facts
- Category
- Galaxies
- Object class
- Interacting giant spiral galaxy
- Host
- Pavo group
- Scale fact
- 716,000 lymaximum extent
- Composition
- Hundreds of billions of stars, gas, dust, dark matter
NGC 6872
716,000 lymaximum extent
Details
NGC 6872 is one of the largest known spiral galaxies and is caught in a strong gravitational interaction with its smaller companion IC 4970. The encounter has stretched its spiral arms into enormous tidal extensions, giving the system a tip-to-tip span of more than 700,000 light-years.
NGC 6872 is a barred spiral interacting with the smaller galaxy IC 4970. The encounter has drawn stars and gas into two exceptionally long tidal arms, giving the system a maximum span far larger than the undisturbed stellar disk would have.
Ultraviolet observations find young star-forming regions along the extended arms. The 716,000-light-year value therefore measures the full tidal structure, not the diameter of a stable, symmetric spiral galaxy.
Links
- Preset views
- Wikipedia
- NGC 6872 on Wikipedia
- Universe journey
- Local Group
Size neighbors
Objects near NGC 6872 on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, NGC 6872 falls between IC 1101 and Abell 1689. The band uses nearby Galaxies records.
Shared physical scale
547,529ly
Sources
References for NGC 6872
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
Continue with nearby objects or open the full scale.
About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.