NGC 1532 and NGC 1531

NGC 1532, known as Haley’s Coronet, is an edge-on barred spiral galaxy located 50 million light-years away, in the constellation of Eridanus. It was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826. The galaxy is a marginal member of the Fornax Cluster, which has around 60 galaxies.

Although it has a high inclination to our line of sight, the presence of a central bar can be assumed by the box-shaped nucleus. In addition, NGC 1532 has many dwarf companions, the most important being NGC 1531, a dwarf amorphous galaxy. The gravitational interaction between the 2 created spectacular plumes of matter between them. Eventually, NGC 1531 will be entirely consumed by its bigger neighbor.

NGC 1532 has a very big diameter, of around 200.000 light-years, while NGC 1531 is only 20.000 light-years wide.