NGC 2775 - Flocculent Spiral Galaxy in Cancer

NGC 2775, also known as Caldwell 48, is a beautiful example of a flocculent spiral galaxy located in the constellation Cancer, at a distance of roughly 65–70 million light-years. At first glance it appears calm, but a closer look reveals a disk filled with softly fragmented spiral structure rather than the bold, continuous arms seen in grand-design spirals. This mottled, “woolly” appearance is what gives flocculent galaxies their name and makes NGC 2775 a particularly elegant study in subtle galactic structure.

Unlike spirals dominated by strong density waves, NGC 2775’s arms are broken into many short segments and star-forming patches, suggesting that local processes—rather than global spiral patterns—play a larger role in shaping its disk. The galaxy is relatively gas-poor and shows only modest ongoing star formation, which is reflected in its smooth, yellowish stellar populations and the lack of prominent H II regions. A bright central bulge dominates the inner region, giving the galaxy an early-type spiral character and reinforcing the impression of a system that has largely settled into dynamical maturity.

The galaxy's hydrogen tail feature indicates a past interaction with a faint companion. A satellite galaxy appears to have orbited NGC 2775 multiple times, losing mass as it did so and creating faint, shell-like structures. Nearby irregular galaxy NGC 2777 displays a tidal tail of hydrogen gas that points back to NGC 2775, suggesting the two may be linked

This image is based on 2 hours and 45 minutes of LRGB integration captured with Telescope Live’s SPA-2-CCD.