IC 5052 is a

barred spiral galaxy A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. Bars are found in about two thirds of all spiral galaxies in the local universe, and generally affect both the motions of stars and interstellar gas ...

located in the constellation Pavo. It is located at a distance of circa 25 million

light year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distance, astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by t ...

s from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that IC 5052 is about 40,000 light years across. It was discovered by DeLisle Stewart on August 23, 1900. IC 5052 is viewed edge-on. When spiral galaxies are viewed from this angle, it is very difficult to fully understand their properties and how they are arranged. IC 5052 is actually a barred spiral galaxy – its

spiral arm Spiral arms are a defining feature of spiral galaxies. They manifest as spiral-shaped regions of enhanced brightness within the galactic disc. Typically, spiral galaxies exhibit two or more spiral arms. The collective configuration of these arms i ...

s do not begin from the centre point but are instead attached to either end of a straight "bar" of stars that cuts through the galaxy's middle. The profile of the galaxy is irregular, with the northwest side having a much higher surface brightness than the southeast side. Also, one half of the

galactic disk A galactic disc (or galactic disk) is a component of disc galaxies, such as spiral galaxies like the Milky Way and lenticular galaxies. Galactic discs consist of a stellar component (composed of most of the galaxy's stars) and a gaseous component ...

appears thicker that the other. A number of irregular dust lanes are observed across the disk, but none is prominent. No

bulge __NOTOC__ Bulge may refer to: Astronomy and geography *Bulge (astronomy), a tightly packed group of stars at the center of a spiral galaxy *Equatorial bulge, a bulge around the equator of a planet due to rotation *Tharsis bulge, vast volcanic pla ...

is observed. A population of older stars has been detected off the center of the disk, as well as a stream-like structure, that could indicate a

galaxy merger Galaxy mergers can occur when two (or more) Galaxy, galaxies collide. They are the most violent type of Interacting galaxy, galaxy interaction. The Gravitation, gravitational interactions between galaxies and the friction between the gas and Cosmi ...

took place in the recent past. The galaxy is close enough that its stars can be resolved with large telescopes, with the brightest ones having an

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction (astronomy), ...

of 21. The younger and hotter of the stars lie within

HII region An H II region is a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionized. It is typically in a molecular cloud of partially ionized gas in which star formation has recently taken place, with a size ranging from one to hundreds of light year ...

s, the largest of which have apparent diameters of at least 2 arcseconds.Sandage, A., Bedke, J. (1994), ''The Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies. Volume I'', Carnegie Institution of Washington These pockets of extremely hot newborn stars are visible across the galaxy's length as bursts of pale blue light, partially blocked out by weaving lanes of darker gas and dust. IC 5052 is characterised as an isolated galaxy, which doesn't belong to a group of galaxies. The nearest large galaxy to IC 5052 is

NGC 6744 __NOTOC__ NGC 6744 (also known as Caldwell 101 or the Pavo Galaxy) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Pavo (Peacock). Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 802 ± 3km/s, which corresponds to a Hubb ...

, which is characterised as the main disturber of IC 5052.

References

External links

IC 5052 on SIMBAD
Barred spiral galaxies Pavo (constellation) 5052 65603 19000823 Discoveries by DeLisle Stewart {{Pavo (constellation)