This dwarf irregular galaxy seen in the sky of the southern hemisphere, spreads across the constellations of Doradus and Mensa. It is around 10 x 9 degrees in full extent, while this image of 3.8 x 2.5 degrees covers the brightest portion.
It is a satellite of our Milky Way galaxy at a distance of 165,000 lightyears. It is around 14,000 lightyears in diameter and may once have been a small barred spiral galaxy, with the remains of the central bar seen in this image. This structure may have been disrupted by gravitational interactions with the Milky Way and the Small Magellanic Cloud.
This LRHaGB image highlights the red areas of emission nebulosity, hotbeds of star formation. The largest area is the Tarantula Nebula, near the left-hand edge of the frame.
This is the result of 1h40m of data capture with an FLI Microline 11002 monochrome camera, through a remote Takahashi FSQ-106 refractor in New South Wales.
Date: 03/11/2020
Photographer: Graham Wilcock
